The Heist
by The Grey Coincidence
Summary: Su, Wing and Wan Wu have hit a low point. For some reason they aren't getting any missions and with depleting stores of money and the risk of loosing their reputation they have no choice but to accept a simple robbery mission. Naturally, nothing goes as they expected it would.
1. Hiring the Wus

Su Wu, Wing Wu and Wan Wu were a rare sight in the Underworld. Yet here they were.

To the outside world the Underworld looked like a massive hill, throwing the minute village of Xian into a shadow. It was an inn. Who's residents and visitors tended to be on the wrong side of the law. It stretched far underground and could house six hundred somewhat comfortably. It served as a place of refuge if you were on the run or a home if you had nowhere else to go. It was the one place where bloodshed between rival gangs and organizations was near impossible. Noone had died in it's halls, which was welcome to thief and serial killer alike. It also served as a criminal postal hub, need a letter that might be incriminating sent? Head to the Underworld!

Yet the Wu sisters almost never visited. They had their own base, their own system for deliveries, and were free from any gangs and organizations. They had never needed the Underworld before.

But now they did… Oh they very much did. They had no business and had had no job for close to a month. Not only were there coffers significantly lowered, but their reputation was at stake. If they weren't renowned assassins, who would hire them?

So they had accepted the invitation sent by the Bat Cave, a small organization that had never worked with them before. And were now waiting.

"This was a prank." Wing said, slamming her fist onto the table with so much vigour several heads turned her way, until they noticed they were staring at Wing Wu and pointedly looked in other directions. "Some idiot, small fry scum thought it would be funny to make us walk all the way here, only for them to not turn up!"

Wan Wu was also getting annoyed, which was saying a lot considering she was generally the optimistic one. "They'll be here any minute now." She said, convincing noone.

Su didn't know what to do. Half of her wanted to claw out the eyes of whoever kept them waiting, the other half was desperate for a job. "I know. This was all a plan to get us away from Hubei so that they can take it for themselves."

"Who's they? Wing you're overthinking things. Firstly if anyone robbed us, we'd kill them and get our money back. Secondly, who would want to rob us? The Imperial Army gave up on us, okay? We're not at war with any gang and freelancers are scared of us." Su said, trying to pacify her temperamental little sister.

"If they were scared of us then why did they pull this stunt on us!?"

"Ahem." Came a small voice.

"Beat it!" Wing snapped at the fox kit, who took a step backwards.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

"I said _beat it!"_

"Wait. _You_ kept us waiting?" Su asked, halting the fox, who looked very much like he wanted to run away.

"Er-yes. Sorry, it's just-" Wing grabbed him by the front of his yellow woolen jumper and dragged him up to eye level. Her eyes met his light brown ones.

"You think this is funny you little pipsqueak!? We have been here for hours and all you have is sorry!? I'll _make_ you sorry."

Now every table was watching. It took Wing a lot of self control to not slit his throat, she settled for throwing him to the ground.

 _"What are you all looking at!?"_ Every head turned away from her instantly. Su stepped in front of her, both to get between her sister and tge kit and to get a better look at him.

He wore a long dark green cloak, a sleeveless yellow woolen jumper, a pair of blue pants and odd footwear. His eyes were light brown and dangling from a string around his neck was a bright yellow rice hat. His fur was the same bright red all over.

"You want to hire us?" She asked.

"Er, more on that in private. Can I-um take you to my leader?"

Su blinked. Wan giggled. Wing glared. "How old are you?" They all asked simultaneously.

"Er thirteen, b-but I turn fourteen this winter."

Su didn't know what she would have done next. A part of her was going to tear his throat out, another part was going to look cool doing it and a third would tell him in a dignified voice to lead the way.

Then he just turned tail and walked away with a 'er follow me." and threw the other two options out of the window.

Resigned the Wus followed after, wondering what they had been invited into.

As they followed him down a brightly lit corridor Wan forced herself to try and break the ice.

"Those are some cool shoes you got." She started, making him jump.

"Oh really? I mean, you think so? Um they're called er-Talon Claws."

It looked like four small, fat, curved metal talons had been attached to a sandal to make it appear like the feet of an eagle.

"It's meant for bats and birds mostly, but mine were made for me, so if I move my toes the talons move too. It's actually pretty cool." He stopped to show Wan how he could wiggle his talons with ease.

"Awesome." Wing said with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

The kit cowered and scampered ahead.

Wan shot her a glare. "He's not all bad."

"He's a kid! What do you think our reputation would look like if someone sees us with him?!"

Wan had no reply ready, but would have argued back anyways had they not arrived at a door.

"Just, er through there." He said, before scampering off, clearly unwilling to spend more time than was necessary with the three renowned assassins.

And in walked the Wu sisters.

The figure standing on a desk and grinning up at them was almost just as insulting as the child they had just encountered. He was the half the height of the fox and wearing a plain black robe that had not a single crease on it. He wore smaller Talon Claws, a charming smile. His fur was brown and neat.

"The Wu sisters. I have heard a great deal about you."

Then his voice it was just…

"How old are _you!_?" Wing snapped.

"Fifteen." He said with his charming smile. "But age doesn't matter. Your payment does." He withdrew three fat, solid gold coins. "The Bat Cave were once miners, we don't have much power, but wealth we have more than enough of. I am willing to pay you a tonne of those each if you do what I ask. I am sending half of that over to Hubei volcano as we speak."

Su tested the coin. It was real. "What do you need?" She asked, still slightly suspicious.

"Well. The mission is simple. You will escort one of our agents to Japan. There he will scout the perimeter of the Silver Fang and come up with a way in. You will infiltrate alongside him and escape with our target. Once he has returned back to us in one piece and breathing, the rest shall be payed to you in full."

It sounded simple. Easy almost. "Who's the operative?" Wing asked.

"You've already met him." The bat said.

They all turned with dread to see the kit walking towards them, now equipped with two knives, two daggers and a bow. He then tripped on part of his cloak and fell on his face.

"Can we have a moment?" Wing asked.

"Of course." Their employer replied and he helped the young fox up and left the room.

"No. No. No. We are not going along with that kid and we are not going to Japan!"

"Wing don't be so stubborn. Clearly they're desperate." Wan said. "Besides three tonnes of gold… And the Silver Fang… That sounds like something to brag about."

Su looked from one to the other. She sighed resignedly.

" _No!_ We are not doing it! There is no way on earth we are going along with this!"

* * *

 _Footnote: Heeeey guuuys. So The Heist was next on my list. I changed the title because the last one was frankly a mouthful. XD_

 _Now several authors have contributed to this story and I will thank yall in turn._

 _First up Berserker88 for giving two dimensional characters a third dimension. XD_

 _Enjoy :D_


	2. Firing the Guards

"I can't believe you talked me into this!" Wing murmured through the barrel. "And now we're getting smuggled out of the country by some kid, you know Su, as far as ideas go this one sucks!"

Su had been beginning to think that herself when the little kit had shown the trio of assassins a trio of barrels they would use to get on board a ship carrying rice to Japan. The Bat Cave seemed as desperate as they were, if this child was the only one they could spare. Still, he wasn't totally useless, and had successfully managed to get them passage towards Japan. There, they were less well-known and could walk as they pleased. But in Gongmen, with all that had happened to them in that city, their faces would have given them away in an instant. That or their wanted posters.

Then they had been boarded onto the ship, rolled down into the cargo hold and forgotten. Wing had been complaining non-stop.

"Stop complaining Wing! This is Japan we're talking about! Think of all the things to see, to eat, to-"

"Japan's not that different from China, and this is a job, not a vacation. Not to mention we might not even see any of it if we're going to spend the whole time in these bloody barrels!"

"Shh, someone's coming!" Su hissed intently.

Something creaked open and the trio heard the familiar sound of someone tripping on the rim of their cloak and falling on their face.

"Uh, it's you." Wing's barrel commented as the fox's little claws prized open the lid, and released the feline, who crawled out, stretching herself. With a simple flick of her claws she released both Su and Wan as well.

Su stretched her claws, and rubbed her back. She hadn't felt that cramped since her time in the sarcophagus.

"Right, so we just stay here the whole boat ride?" Wing asked in a voice that just have easily could have said 'I will rip your heart out and tear you limb from limb'.

"Well, that is the er-best way to make sure nobody knows you're here."

Wing grunted angrily. "How long were we here?" She asked, staring around at the storage space.

"Um- three or f-four days."

"Is there anything to eat?" Su asked, trying to diffuse the tension.

The fox prized open another barrel and showed it to them. It was full of carrots. "Well, there's this-"

Wing grabbed him by the front of his jumper and raised him to eye level. "I have a better idea!" She snarled, her claws unsheathing above her.

"You can check the kitchens!" Wan suggested, stepping on Wing's tail.

The leopard dropped the kit, who hastily took the excuse to leave the assassins behind him.

"What is wrong with you?! We need him alive!" Wan snapped.

"I wasn't going to kill him!" Wing snarled. "What's he to you anyways? You and your foxes, I swear I'll never understand. We haven't eaten in four days!"

Wan glared back at Wing. "I don't care about him, we need the money, that's that. When we get payed you can throw him down a volcano if you want."

Wing ' _harrumped_ ' and crossed her arms over her chest. "I still don't like the idea! And he's a kid! He has no business here!"

"He must be useful in some way." Su pacified. "Otherwise noone, no matter how desperate, would send him with us."

"Yeah!" Wan agreed. "I bet you he speaks Japanese!"

* * *

"You're _fired_!" The smile was so genuine it almost hurt. "And you! And you! And you! And you! And you! _And you!_ F-I-R-E-D! _Fired_!" Han Guan grinned from ear to ear.

His muddy brown fur was scruffy, and he sat with both feet on the table. His kimono was all dark blue, with sleeves torn off. His paws and feet were wrapped in red bandages. He looked incredibly proud of himself, his small black eyes looked very much like a child's after having received an extremely large sweet.

The room was stunned into silence, then broke into gales of laughter.

"Did you hear him?"

"I heard him alright! The Tail of Clan Guan… fire us?"

The laughter increased ten fold.

"I'm not joking." Han Guan said. "You are all fired."

"Han-kun, you are being ridiculous. You have no authority to command us. We serve the Silver Fang-not you." One burly guard dismissed.

"I don't think so!" Han got to his feet and withdrew a scroll from his kimono, unfurling it in the guardsman's face. "Lord Hoku-sama left _me_ in charge, while he and his cousin go visit the Iron Tail. It's got his signature and is completely, _totally_ legal!"

The guards crowded around the scroll, frowning at it dismissively.

"So you can pack off! As Captain I have a lot to do, so scram!"

Those he had fired left the room swiftly, leaving the wolverine with those he had not dismissed from his service.

He felt triumphant. He had come to the Silver Fang after being turned down by the Frozen Feet, the Icy River, the Sharp Grass, the Burning Leaf, the Nai-Enchantedo Tanuki and three of the Daimyos. He had been given a low post as a guard, but Lord Hoku had taken a strange liking to him and had promoted him often. He had been spat on by most of the guards, many of whom had lost posts in favour of him. And here he was, several years later, in charge of the whole estate, for a whole week!

"Right, so the rest of you can do whatever you normally do!" He announced cheerfully.

Then to his surprise one guard spoke. "With all due respect Han-kun, you fired half of us."

Han Guan turned to him looking confused. "But the Silver Fang have over a hundred-"

"-Most of whom left either with Lord Tohru-sama and his son, or Lord Hoku-dono. You fired half of the guards left."

"Er-I shouldn't have fired them?" He asked, utterly befuddled. They had been mean and cruel to him, and laughed in his face and behind his backs. They said he was not fit to guard the latrines. They didn't deserve to serve the Silver Fang...

The guards that remained turned away from him and whispered with each other. Eventually they rose and turned to face him.

"We quit." One announced.

Han Guan's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. "No! _Nonononono!_ You can't do that! The Silver Fang, the palace, the grounds, who's going to guard them?"

Then the guards smiled. "No idea, Captain. But we're sure you'll manage just fine by yourself." Then they began filing out, breaking into small fits of laughter as they passed him.

"B-but, the clan! You live to serve them and-"

"And you aren't one of them. Don't worry Han-kun, we'll come back." The guard smiled so wickedly Han Guan wanted to whimper. "After Lord Tohru-sama does, of course." And he left laughing madly.

Han Guan sat down, dumb-founded. He was doomed… Then an idea came to him. He raced out and watched the laughing guards strolling out the front gate.

"Fine! Go! You're all rubbish anyways! When Lord Tohru-sama returns he'll find this place spotless! And he'll have better guards! Much better! So much better! He won't even think twice about you or your-" He stopped shouting as a massive sushi was stuffed up his mouth. He swallowed and turned to see the cook leaving.

"Why are _you_ going?" Han whined.

"I'm not cooking for one person." The cook snapped at him.

"B-but the servants and cleaners and-"

"They already left." She replied, deadpan.

Han Guan watched them leave. How was he going to replace an entire household in a week? Then a poster flew into his face. He peeled it off and stared at it. It was advertising a new flavour of noodles.

"I could… Advertise…" Han Guan realized. "Hah! Take that! You'll all get replaced! Good luck wherever it is you're going!"

The gates of the Silver Fang estate closed and Han Guan was left alone, holding the advertisement.

* * *

Hoku snuck away from his guard, with the excuse of needing to pee. Naturally the entire guard had stopped and he doubted anyone would follow him. He was a fox, and cousin of the head of the clan, with red fur where it should have been silver. He wore a light grey kimono, with a silver fang embroided into the back of the clothing.

He whistled and was soon surrounded.

Chibiki stood in front of him, the great black bear towered over the fox. He wore light armour, and his weapon of choice hung from around his neck. He bowed low. "Hoku-san. Is it ready?"

"Yes." The fox replied. "I left the Tail of Clan Guan in charge-you can kill him if you want, he's useless to me." Han Guan was the biggest idiot Hoku had ever seen. Who better to leave in charge of an estte he was about to rob? "Then you can use the fireworks stored under the dungeons to blow the vault open. Loot it, empty it. We use it's power and otherthrow the Silver Fang and install me as Lord."

"When do we move?" Came Izumi's voice. The bobtail was thumbing a large knife, small beads of blood rolled down the blade. She was deceptively beautiful, with her pretty face, smooth fur and pleasing form. She could have passed for a princess if it wasn't fir the mad gleam in her eyes.

"As soon as you can, but leave a day or two to erase suspicion from me."

"Got it." Sutoaraiki finished, the large hornet already pouring over the layout of the palace Hoku had given the gang before when he had first come up with the scheme.

"Very well. I must go, or else someone might come looking for me." He had a very large smile on his face. "Good luck."

When he had left Chibiki admired his crew, Izumi and her knives, Sutoaraiki and his wooden darts and Buruto, the large, simple-minded gorilla that served as the muscle of their gang. They weren't thieves, they were going to crash into the estate, butcher the small garrison Hoku had left behind and leave with whatever secret the Silver Fang kept in their vaults that they prized so much. Then it was plain sailing for them all. Even Masuta-sensei was out of town. The only thing left to stop them was a wolverine banished from his own clan.

"Three days. We'll wait that long." Then he smiled. It was all too easy.

* * *

 _Footnote: And thus the majority of the players have been introduced, only a few more characters left to show off. As you can see the plot has changed slightly, with Hoku pulling the strings from behind the scenes and the Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands working for him. And we also have the incredible Han Guan failing incredibly at life._

 _And the Wu sisters are travelling incognito. Quite a mash up, don't you think?_


	3. Searching for Sidekicks

Han Guan panicked. It had taken three hours to get through to his brain, but it finally happened. He realized that he was well and totally screwed.

"WhatamIgoingtodo?WhatamIgoingtodo?WhatamIgoingtodo?" At first he had napped it off. The others had gone to get drunk and would be back after they had enough sake. Then an hour had passed. He had spent it refining his fighting, suppressing the thought that he was screwed. He survived for two hours. Then he got hungry and had gone to the kitchens. It was full of rice and flour and vegetables. He had convinced himself that he could make something. Then he remembered he had no idea how to cook. And then he realized he was totally screwed.

"Aaaaah! Somebody help me!" He yelled, while beating the world record of most laps around the Silver Fang Estate while in a panic induced state. Then he remembered he was all alone and decided he would go and drag back the servants if he had to. He raced through the doors and was half a li away when he remembered he was responsible for guarding it, then he turned on his heel like the guardsman he was, raced back, locked the doors, and then raced as far as his feet could carry him.

He crossed a bridge and found himself in town. He breathed a huge sigh of relief. There were so many people mulling about, talking to neighbours, buying food, he was sure he'd have the estate filled up again in no time! Until he tried to get their attention.

"Ahem. Excuse me! Hellooooo!" On the large part he was ignored, except by a little duckling who pointed at him.

"Look mummy, it's a clown!"

 _"EXCUSE ME!"_ His voice echoed around the town, every eye turned to him. "Right, so who wants a job?"

They all decided he was irrelevant and ignored him again, except the duckling.

"I want a job! I want a job! Pick me!" He pulled at the wolverine's little tail so forcefully Han Guan yelled in pain and gritted his teeth.

Another note of panic played out inside his brain. He was doomed.

Then he decided he could at least get something to eat, and made his way to his favorite sushi shop. He opened the door, glumly, wondering whether or not Lord Tohru would execute him if anything got stolen. Then the noise hit him like a solid wall.

It was chaos. There was loud music being played in the background, sake flowed so freely from barrels it looked like a hundred tiny rivers had been made. Swinging and dancing were the former guards of the Silver Fang.

"Hey Captain-sama! How's the estate going?"

These were the people he was left in charge of… He was so screwed.

"Um. Hello guys. Look I wanted to say I was wrong and I'm sorry and I shouldn't be Captain and I'm only fit to guard the latrines and you guys should come back, otherwise Lord Tohru-sama's going to execute me and put my head on a spike and I like my head on my body and-"

"Aw, is lil' Han-kun gonna cwy his lil' eyes out?" The comment was followed up by jeers and hoots of laughter that did make Han want to cry. But he was desperate.

"Please! I need you guys! The Silver Fang needs you! I don't want to die!" He was so desperate his paws were shaking at his side, as if he was a leaf in a high wind.

"Too bad." One guard said, burping.

Then Han Guan lost his nerve. In a panicked frenzy he extended his claws and yelled at the top of his voice. _"IF YOU DON'T COMEBACK WILLINGLY I WILL PERSONALLY DRAG YOUR TAILS BACK TO THE ESTATE AND LOCK YOU UP TO GUARD THE DUNGEONS!"_

Then one guard, a fox too burly to be allowed, stood up and walked over to the wolverine, who suddenly lost his nerve again and gulped audibly. "Try me." He said, very, very softly.

Han hesitated for too long. If he hurt the guard then he wouldn't be able to guard anything and then Lord Tohru would still either fire or execute him.

The burly fox went for his face.

* * *

Reidak crossed the street, stretching his muscles as he went by. Many men gazed jealously at his build, while women giggled and started waving fans. But Reidak didn't care, he was used to it. The Russian tiger had shiny orange fur, striped black. Across his eyes was a red bandana and his clothing was simple, with a pair of black pants and a red shirt. Hanging from a black belt were a well packed assortment of smoke bombs, minute explosives, grappling hooks with thin but tough rope, and a pair of billy clubs.

He was just heading towards a famed sushi shop, eager for a snack to appease his hungry stomach. Besides, what was a holiday if he didn't gain at least a few pounds of flab?

Partially to his surprise, and partially to his annoyance a wolverine was literally flung at his feet. He hopped over Han Guan's groaning form and frowned as a burly fox with drunk, bloodshot eyes, moved closer with a glass bottle. Behind him followed many eager eyes.

Sensing that the already battered wolverine might be at risk, Reidak casually stretched out his foot, tripped the fox, and caught the bottle of sake, before pinning the vulpine to the ground with one leg.

He thrashed about, yelling in Japanese. Reidak knew enough to figure his mother would not have liked that, lifted the fox and gave him too quick slaps.

His Japanese was a little rusty, but he tried his best anyways. "Go home, or I will hang you over your bed." He had meant to say 'or you'll have a hangover and not leave your bed'. Instead, the fox swung at the tiger, who caught the blow, before delivering a swift headbutt.

The fox fell flat on his back, out cold, his arm pinned under him. Reidak frowned and decided the fox didn't need a dead arm. He bent over to help, but was cut off.

" _Aaaaaah!_ He's going to hang Hishama-sama!" Two more guards, lightly armoured but unarmed, charged at him, yelling.

Reidak dodged both punches, before taking both out with a single roundhouse kick. He then brought his knee up into someone's chin as the fox came lagging behind. Three more charged forwards, one held an empty sake bottle, another held a vase and the third brandished a pair of plates. With a loud battle cry the plates were thrown at the tiger, who deflected both so that they landed neatly on the floor. He then swung at vase, caught the fox in the jaw, picked up the vase before it got shattered, sidestepped two swings of the bottle, kicked the guard in the nose, extracted the bottle and set it down on the ground next to the vase.

" _RETREAT!"_ Yelled one fox, and the unconscious guards were dragged back into the safety of the sushi shop, the door slamming shut with clear finality.

"So much for breakfast." Reidak muttered, deciding he'd go somewhere a little less hostile.

"You saved my life!" Han yelled, leaping to his feet in a frenzy and gratefully shaking the tiger's paw. He was bruised black and blue, but was grinning so strongly you could see clearly he still had all his teeth.

To Reidak's surprise the wolverine was speaking Chinese. "You're welcome." He responded politely.

Han Guan let him leave before he thought of a great idea. "Hey! Mr Tiger-sama! You're hungry, right?"

* * *

Wan and Su had been proved right, the fox kit had hauled in so much food they could have gorged non-stop if they wanted to. He had also dragged in a large amount of water, barrels and barrels of the stuff. He was currently locked in a small cabin on the bottom of the ship 'practicing', when Wan had tried to break some ice by asking what he was practicing he had responded with a 'nothing interesting' to which Wing had added an unhelpful 'thought so'.

Yet curiosity followed soon after. There were sounds of crashing, and objects falling, and grunting and groaning, punctuated by odd flashes of green and panting.

Wan decided the fox was probably going through puberty.

* * *

"No."

"What?! Why!?" Reidak climbed to his feet as Han Guan began spluttering his protests.

"I'm on holiday." The tiger replied shortly. He frowned and placed a sympathetic paw on the wolverine's shoulder. "If Tohru is a good man he will go easy on you."

Han stared at the table blankly. "B-but I have to! It's not only about my job it's also the honor of the Silver Fang! And me! I'll get killed or get kicked out and then hello starvation! And what if the clan gets robbed? Do you have any idea what's inside those vaults?"

Reidak turned out of curiosity. "No."

"Me neither! It's the best kept secret in history! And I will not go down as the idiot who blew it all!"

"Perhaps you won't have to." Came a calm, quite voice. A raven was perched on a table, his feathers a pitch black. He wore a blue garb, with a katana strapped to his side, yet the most striking thing about him were his eyes, which were a very striking green in colour. "I am Denko, and may be of assistance to you."

"You're 'lightning'?" Han asked, perplexed.

"And you're 'official sweat'. Don't joke with me."

"Okaaay Mr Lightning-san."

"Good." Denko drew his katana and pointed it at the wolverine. "I vow to be of assistance to you, until I am no longer needed."

Han Guan breathed a sigh of relief, then performed a little victory dance. "Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! Hehehe, I knew this wouldn't be too difficult! Right, Denko-san, Reidak-sama let's g-"

Reidak pulled the wolverine back into a chair. "I already told you I don't want to help."

The tiger was leaving again when Han Guan shouted.

"I'll pay! You two can share the wages of twenty guards!"

Reidak paused. The wolverine was begging him, with two large, puppy-dog eyes. He sighed.

"Fine. I'm in."

Han Guan looked like he was going to explode with joy.

"If you require more, I know of an establishment that is full of those seeking monetary gain." Denko supplied.

Han grinned. "Lead the way!"

* * *

 _Footnote: Reidak belongs to Master Fearless Shadow. Denko belongs to TheDragonsaver and is basically an alternate universe version of Karasu from his stories. The other three get involved later._

 _And of course my older readers know exactly what's up with the fox kit, or at least have a better idea of what's going on._

 _Now I assure you, Denko is not just crammed here for the fun of it, he has a role to play. I think I'll focus on this story a lot more, it just deserves it._


	4. Dividing the Cast

Jin the Assassin sat on a bench, his feet relaxing on the table in front of him. His signature crossbows swung from his hips. He was a tall fox, as large as a leopard, and as thin as a reed. His clothing was bright green all over, with a white sash, and the best that money could buy, with polished brown boots to top it all off. His fur was an equally bright orange and white, with bright blue eyes, additionally his fur formed a 'beard' just under his chin. Currently he was playing a card game-and winning.  
The inn was an odd establishment in that the owner couldn't really have cared less who came inside it. For all he knew the Daimyo could have waltzed in, ordered five cups of sake, payed double and he still wouldn't give two tails.  
That was why Jin liked it. The only other place like this was the Underworld back in China, but there everyone knew you were a criminal. Here, he could walk around scott-free without so much as a glance from anyone else. Here he could be himself and he knew the Imperial Army wouldn't come busting down doors and smashing windows.  
"I win!" He yelled, slamming his cards on the table and grabbing the pile of coins in front of him and pouring it onto his lap.  
A baboon looked from between the cards and the tables and stood up. "You are wrong! I win!" He slammed his own cards onto the table.  
Jin didn't waste time looking at the cards and instead pulled out his crossbow, leveling it with the simian's head."Ya think so?"  
Japanese people, he found, were less cowardly and more stubborn than the Chinese. This baboon was an exception, he quivered fearfully and left.  
This was the life!  
The door opened just as he started counting the money, and in walked two figures.  
Hei Zei was short, and clad in black, the little of his paws that showed were wrapped in bandages, yet Jin knew what he looked like beneath the hood and bandages, scarred and burned from the flames of their childhood.  
Lang was just the same as usual with his thick muscles and cocky smile. His pants were all the same as well. The only difference to his appearance was a long, ugly scar going right down his front.  
His jaw dropped. This couldn't be happening. They were dead.  
Clearly from the widened eyes and dropped jaws they thought the same thing. Then Jin fainted clear away.

* * *

"Okay, I think we're here now. So get back in the barrels and I'll-" Wing cut the fox's sentence short by grabbing him around the neck.  
"No, no, no. This time you can go inside the barrel and we can walk out."  
"But they saw me walk in-not you!" The kit protested weakly. Wing dumped him face first into the barrel anyways, before slamming the lid over it.  
Su rolled her eyes. "Well, hopefully nobody knows what we look like. Come on. Let's check out some of Japan."  
"Yippee!" Wan praised, clapping her paws together.

* * *

Jin sat up, his eyes still tight shut. He had been dreaming. Hei Zei was a dead raccoon and Lang was a dead wolf. They had not walked in on him winning a card game. He opened his eyes, they were staring right at him. He fainted again.

* * *

The Wus released the fox from the barrel after they had gone through the town.  
"Right. Which way is the Silver Fang?"  
The fox opened a scroll and studied it. He pointed a finger at a spot. "Right there. Okay, we'll go, that way!" He pointed in one direction, directly at a thicket of brambles.  
Su lead the way, slicing the foliage away with her claws. Within seconds it fell off-to reveal a large boulder.  
"Okay. Let's go around it." The fox suggested. Ignoring him the Wus put their tails together, and spun. Nothing, except Master Croc's back had ever withstood the power of the Wu vortex. The boulder was no exception, and neither was the forest. From where he stood the vulpine got a clear view of the trees collapsing. He frowned. "Professional assassins with no sense of subtlety. Now how's that for a change?"

* * *

The fourth time Jin came to he managed at least to form eligible words.  
"You're real?"  
"Pinch yourself if you don't believe us." Hei Zei offered, his paws steepled in front of him.  
"B-b-but-"  
"Trust me, we thought you were dead too." The raccoon explained helpfully. "And until recently we didn't even know about each other either."  
"How did ya find me?" Was the first question Jin asked, before throwing fifty others at the duo. "And how did ya survive? And where's your scar from? Cool scar by the way. And how did you meet each other? And when? And what are ya guys doing here? And-"  
"It will be easier to explain if you don't interrupt." Hei Zei began. "But first we need to clarify some things." He pulled out a wanted poster from somewhere in his cloak, and held it up for the fox to see.  
It read 'Jin the Assassin' 'Wanted Dead or Alive' had a large number at the bottom that was his bounty. Luckily though, whoever had drawn up the poster had not gotten a good look at Jin's face. He wasn't so grim! He was grinning! He always grinned.  
"This isn't-" Hei Zei sounded like he was pleading.  
"I'm not an assassin! That's silly!" Jin forced a loud, nervous laugh.  
Lang had always been a bit slow and breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I was a bit worried about all that stuff."  
Hei Zei was not convinced. "The guys at the inn said you styled yourself as Jin the Assassin-"  
"Hunter! I'm after this-guy. He even looks like me!" It was a lousy excuse, but Lang bought it anyways.  
"Ooooh, that explains why we found you at the same place this guy's meant to be."  
"Yeah, he got away this morning though. Too bad." He gave another nervous fake-laugh. "When I was done with him he'd have looked nothing like me!"  
Lang laughed, and even Hei Zei managed a chuckle. "Jin you have not changed at all, have you?"  
Jin made himself grin, and it wasn't that difficult. He had loved these two once upon a time, if he could just keep conversations away from assassins and the Wus, then this would be a blast! "So, how are ya-you guys?" It was probably best if he dropped the accent as well.  
"Pretty good I suppose." Hei Zei replied.  
"Yeah, the usual." Was Lang's response.  
"And now that we're together again we can unite to defeat the Wu sisters once and for all!"  
 _Oh crap!_  
The Brotherhood and the Wu sisters went far, far back. They had all grown up in Hubei, but the trio of leopards were their own thieves, whereas the other trio had been the heads of the Thieves' Guild, a gang of orphan thieves. They successfully recruited the Wus after burning their house down, this came back to bite them when the future assassins had set fire to the Thieves' Guild Hideout, killing those inside, save and except for the trio that became the Brotherhood. After many years they had caught up to the leopards and locked them up once and for all. Wan had escaped first, mostly due to Jin's surprising lack of cunning. She had then freed Wing and the two had bust out of Gongmen with ease, apparently killing Lang in the process. Then they had freed Su and tried to form a criminal syndicate to conquer China, the Master's Council Ox, Croc and Rhino along with Grandmaster Oogway, had put a stop to that, but Hei Zei had come back for more. He had tried his hardest to kill Su Wu again, and had fallen into Hubei volcano as a result.  
To Jin's surprise the raccoon laughed. "You're right. We're here in Japan, let's make the most of our time here."  
Jin breathed a secret sigh of relief. Disaster averted. But another thing was bugging him, when was the last time Hei Zei had laughed?  
"Yeah! Lang agreed. "Let's go grab whatever these people drink!"

* * *

"This is the place." Chibiki informed the others. "The innkeep keeps his mouth closed. We'll wait it out in here. Come on guys."

* * *

"This is the place." Denko waved a wing at the small, run-down inn. "The guy who owns it doesn't really care who visits, so you tend to get some shady characters. Just head in, talk money and you've got your guards."  
Han Guan nodded reverently, mentally taking notes of the raven's advice.  
The door flew open from the right and in walked the Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands. Almost a moment later the door on the left opened and in walked Han Guan, Reidak and Denko.  
Exactly a moment later the Brotherhood emerged from a bedroom door.  
Each group sat down at a table.

* * *

"Right. Talk quietly." Chibiki advised the others, before revealing the layout of the Silver Fang estate.

* * *

"Speak commandingly, like you own the place." Denko advised.  
"If it helps, imagine everyone as naked." Reidak chimed in.  
Han Guan was sweating more water than a leaking pipe and was nodding feverishly now. He closed his eyes, and opened them again. Then he slammed his paw over them as if he had just stared into the sun. "No!" He said weakly. "It doesn't help."

* * *

"Right. So ya-you guys are still alive. H-how? And when did ya meet up? And that scar is frickin' awesome-"  
Hei Zei held up a paw for silence. "It started when I fell down the volcano."

* * *

"I'll fly in." Sutoaraiki was saying. "Knock out the guards on the estate's side of the door, while Izumi-chan seduces the other two. Then I open the door, and she silences the guys."

* * *

"As I was falling I managed to catch a ledge. I thought I was taking Su with me, but she wasn't there. I guess one of her sisters must have got out and freed her. So I pulled myself up and tried to calm down." He shuddered.  
Jin remembered he was scared of fire, getting surrounded by lava while reclining on a ledge in a volcano must have been his worst nightmare. "While I was there I did a lot of thinking. I realized that I spent so much time obsessed with the Wus that I lost myself. When I heard you guys were dead I- I didn't feel anything. I realized that I threw my life away looking for revenge, that I became nothing more than an empty husk. So I lounged around for a couple of years, wasting my days. Not knowing what to do with my life." Hei Zei sighed. "Eventually I met Lang, and then we went back to the old job. The rest is history."

* * *

"Meanwhile me and Buruto-san will be causing a disturbance here." Chibiki pointed at the Easternmost corner of the wall. "We'll kill the guards posted at the gate and then start roaring challenges. If these foxes are all as honorable as Lord Hoku-sama says, then they will have no choice but to come at us one on one. We will deal with as many as we can, then the pair of you come in and finish them from behind. There should be twenty men left to guard the place, we'll make short work of them. Then, the vaults are a level below the dungeons, on the same level as the fireworks we've been supplied with. Me and Buruto-san will bring the fireworks, Sutoaraiki-san you have to make sure we don't blow up the whole place. Take the powder and set it up against the door. Then blow it open and we've got the gold."  
Buruto held out his hands and received a high five each from Chibiki and Sutoaraiki. But Izumi was frowning.  
"So there's twenty guards. Me and the bug get two each, so that leaves eighteen to you? That's not fair!"  
"It's eighteen to me and Buruto." Chibiki scoffed. This wasn't about kills!  
"He doesn't kill people!" Izumi snapped. "So you get eighteen, we only get two!"  
"Actually he'd get sixteen." The hornet pointed out, but the bobtail was having none of it.  
"Same difference! I wanna swap. You seduce the guards, I get sixteen kills!"  
"And how pray tell, am I meant to seduce anyone?"

* * *

"You need to calm down. Nobody's going to listen to someone in the middle of a panic attack." Reidak said, placing a helpful paw on Han's shoulder.  
The wolverine took a deep, deep breath. He could do this. He rose to his feet, radiating an aura of confidence, until he got everyone's attention. "Ummm, REIDAK HAS SOMETHING TO TELL ALL OF YOU!"  
He sat down quickly, Reidak glared at him from behind his bandana. Han Guan stood up again. "BASICALLYI'MGOINGTODIEBECAUSEIJUSTFIREDALLOFTHEGUARDSATTHESILVERFANGANDIFANYONEFINDSOUTMYHEADISROLLINGANDIDON'TWANTTHATTO-"  
Denko kicked the back of his knee, so that the wolverine fell back into his chair. "That is not commanding."  
"What did he say?" Asked a tall fox.  
He was replied with a 'he's irrelevant', 'yeah you're better off tuning him out'. Han Guan stared at the table in front of him, both sad and worried.  
"Well, you tried your best." Reidak comforted.

* * *

"Right, after that rude interruption." And thus Lang pounced upon his tale.

* * *

"Did he just say the Silver Fang is empty?" Sutoaraiki asked, dumbstruck by the sheer implausibility of it all.

* * *

"And then my guts were all hanging out and stuff and I was bleeding, and my ribs were shattered. But my vitals were still working and I wasn't just going to die!"  
Several other tenants gave Lang odd looks.

* * *

"Well. I suppose we could go check it out." Chibiki suggested.

* * *

"And then she did this weird thing with the poltices and she managed to replace my ribs. It was weird to be honest. I don't even know how the old goat stitched my intestines back together!"  
Even Jin and Hei Zei were going green from all the details.

* * *

Denko watched the quartet leave silently, and noted that none had even ordered drinks. He watched the black bear tuck a scroll into the back of his pants. And right after Han Guan had told everyone that the Silver Fang estate was unguarded…  
"Do you guys think I'm worthless?" The wolverine asked suddenly, his voice glum with depression as he drew circles with his claw.  
"Er- we did just meet a short while ago." Reidak began, clearly unsure how to console a near-stranger.  
"Excuse me." The raven began. "I think we need to leave."  
"Okay, you guys go ahead. If I'm going to be executed I might as well be drunk when it happens."  
"You're not going to be executed!" His two companions snapped.  
"I heard Lord Tohru-sama was very forgiving." Denko soothed.  
"Yeah, he is. But this is like the twenty eighth time I've caused disaster."  
"Why don't you tell Reidak all about your life? I'll be right back. I just need the bathroom." Denko walked away, before breaking into a sprint and flapping out the door with clear urgency.

* * *

"And then she poured the metal over my chest and the blood oozed out. I was screaming so loudly, I'm sure the whole of Gongmen heard me! And then the metal had to dry and I had to lie there in agony!"  
"Since when was he so descriptive?" Jin asked, leaning to the side to whisper into the raccoon's ear.  
"No idea." Was Hei Zei's immediate response.

* * *

"So I guess it all started when my mother and father met-but I don't know much about my dad. I never met him. And my mum isn't really the greatest parental figure. He-he." His nervous laughter was soon replaced with total silence. If Reidak hadn't sensed something urgent he really would have tried his best to help the mustelid. Unfortunately, the way Denko had decided to leave the inn so abruptly bugged him greatly. Then it clicked. The Palace was empty. The raven had only brought them there so that he could go rob the place with ease.  
"Han we need to go now!" Reidak said, rising to his feet.  
"Go ahead. I'm not leaving until I've hired somebody!" Han Guan stood up again, sucking in his courage.  
The tiger growled in frustration. "It's an emergency!"  
"WHOWANTSMONEY?" Several animals pulled seats up nearer to Han Guan's table as soon as the words left him.  
"We're listening." Came the innkeep's thick voice.  
Reidak would have rolled his eyes if he had any. He could have walked away fine. No scratches, no cuts. Nothing. But the wolverine, dumb as he was, didn't deserve to die, or worry about dying before being given a lesser punishment. And that meant stopping Denko himself.

"I'll be right back." The tiger announced, before shooting off on all fours.

* * *

"And then it was just the same old business. Catching crooks and stuff." Lang's bloodcurdling tale ended. Both Hei Zei and Jin shivered.  
"Since that other Jin is clearly not here, how about we hear out that guy." Hei Zei suggested. "Let's see if we're as good as we used to be. Besides, it's been way too long since we've done anything together."  
"Yeah. Waaaaaay too long." Jin agreed. As long as the wolverine didn't have anything to do with assassins things would go smoothly and Hei Zei and Lang need never know that there was no other Jin.

* * *

"Will you hurry up?" Wing snapped. The trio were at the foot of the estate, arms crossed.  
The fox kit was huffing and puffing through the wreckage of the forest, fifty feet away.  
"W-we shouldn't be doing this now!" Was the first thing the vulpine said when he reached the trio.  
"Okay. You're right." Su agreed, before Wing got the chance. "The three of us will sneak in-you can go find a place for us to rest and plan after reconnaissance."  
"B-b-but I'm-" Su gave him a warning look, Wing glared and Wan was trying and failing to look sympathetic-it probably would have been more convincing if she wasn't a professional killer. "Okay. Bedrooms it is." And he scampered back through another side of the woods.  
"Right sisters. Let's check this place out." Their claws extended and up they climbed.

* * *

"So we're just guards? No actual target?" Lang asked, sounding slightly disappointed.  
"There's money in it, I mean the wages of four guards each-that's a l-lot and it's, it's fun!" It was small surprise Han Guan had chased off the other tenants.  
"We are used to having more specific jobs." Hei Zei murmured thoughtfully.  
"We'll do it!" Jin exclaimed suddenly. It was perfect. A win-win situation! The wolverine got his guards, he got to spend some time with his old friends and there was no one from the underworld who might have had more details about his current career.  
Hei Zei and Lang looked unsure at first. Then Zei nodded. "You've got yourself a deal."  
Han Guan jumped to his feet, his paws raised above his head. "Yeeeeeeees! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Then he noticed that everyone was staring at him. "Um- Lord Tohru-sama has just bought one of my artworks for a lot of money. Sake for everyone!" This comment was met with cheers.  
"So you're an artist as well, eh?" Jin asked. This day got better and better!

* * *

"Right. Follow the plan anyways. Izumi, Sutoaraiki you know what to do. Buruto, with me!" The Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands divided.  
They were close to the easternmost corner when Buruto tripped over a little fox reading a map. The gorilla fell forwards and Chibiki turned around. The fox was frowning at him. He said something. Chibiki hadn't understood it.  
"What's the hurry?" The vulpine repeated. This time Chibiki understood it was Chinese. The bear returned the frown.  
"Business." Buruto was on his feet. They were leaving when the fox spoke again.  
"You dropped your scro-" As he bent over to pick it up the fox noticed that it was titled 'The Silver Fang Estate Layout'. He looked at the bear, realization and worry dawning on his face.  
"You've seen too much." Chibiki growled, unfurling his kusarigama from around himself.  
The fox took a step back, before snatching up the scroll and narrowly avoiding the blade as it flew an inch above his head.  
Then the fox turned tails and ran.  
 _If he gets away the whole clan will be onto us. And if someone finds out we were robbed by a kit..._ "Don't let him get away." And the two gave chase.

* * *

Izumi frowned. There were no guards. Something was definitely up. But who was stupid enough to fire a garrison and then tell everyone? Suddenly she realized that this was probably a trap.  
"Is something wrong?" Came a voice, and she turned to see a raven with green eyes staring right at her.  
She removed several knives from her person. "Not at all."

* * *

 _Footnote: Well I guess it's about time things got going! Now we have the whole cast assembled. Jin, Hei Zei and Lang belong to Berserker88, I didn't go into toooooo much detail about their past, but enough so you guys know about them. They are from Always Together, a fic I reccomend wholeheartedly._

 _Right, time for a little action, coming next chapter :) Also the title comes from the repeated use of dividers here._

 _Enjoy_


	5. Skirmishes in the Woods

The kusarigama's blade embedded itself into a tree as the kit threw himself flat on his stomach to avoid a beheading. Chibiki used his weapon's momentum to launch himself forwards and plant a strong kick to the vulpine's back. Unfortunately, this resulted in the scroll flying out of the thief's grip and clattering away into the woods. Buruto went for the scroll, but so did the fox, and both dived towards it, while Chibiki freed his weapon from the tree.

* * *

Izumi went in first, with several thriowing knives shooting towards Karasu like a volley of arrows.

The raven drew his sword, and scattered the knives one by one, letting them crash harmlessly into the earth behind him. Then he replied with three shuriken and it was Izumi's turn to avoid them. Charging forwards she side-stepped the first, deflected the second with a well-placed throwing knife and ducked the third, before swinging at the avian with a long dagger. The blades clashed once, before Izumi spun away, sending another pair of knives towards him. He twisted away from them, though one sliced a small hole in his scarf, any closer and it would have penetrated his neck.

* * *

"This is weird. Where are all the people?" Wan voiced the question on all their minds.

They had literally snuck into seven empty bedrooms, two offices, an armoury devoid of armour, a kitchen, dining hall and so on, yet there was not a single trace of life.

"Vacation?" Wing offered, sounding sceptical of her own idea.

"Someone was here earlier today." Su confirmed as she picked up a single strand of brown fur.

"You don't think it's because we're here, do you?" Wan asked.

"I have no idea." Wing supplied.

Su frowned. Something very fishy was going on. "Well, we did our job on reconnaissance. Let's get back to the fox."

* * *

The fox in question reached the scroll a second before Buruto, but the gorilla headbutted him away, taking possession of the scroll. The vulpine, however, refused to give up, and after avoiding the scythe at the end of the chain, dived for the scroll once more. He managed to grab hold of it, but Buruto already had an iron grip on the scroll, and lifted the fox along with it.

* * *

Denko had had a head start, the raven was probably already at the estate. Reidak growled, how could he have not noticed the avian's suspicious activity sooner? He spotted a path going into the woods. If it lead to the estate then perhaps he could take the raven by surprise. Reidak raced into the woods.

Izumi narrowly avoided getting vertically bisected, and managed to slice open Denko's cheek as she twirled away. The raven then shot out another handful of shuriken. Izumi avoided all but the last, which deteriorated into a puff of smoke upon impact.

"Ah, illusions." Her smile widened. "I wonder how much Daimyo Masuta will pay for a tanuki."

The raven frowned. "I'm not a tanuki, merely a ninja of the-"

He just managed to duck the knife in time.

"You talk too much, ninja-kun!"

* * *

Sutoaraiki's scowl deepened. "Where the hell is everyone? Was that wolverine seriously telling the truth? How dumb can you get?" He then smirked. This would make everything a whole lot easier.

Little did he know he was completely wrong.

* * *

"So you fired all the guards, then the servants left and the cook." Hei Zei summarised in a deadpan voice.

Han Guan leapt to his own defence. "Well, when you put it like that it sounds pretty dumb, but I didn't fire all the guards and-"

Then Lang piped up. "Wait, hold the scroll! If you fired the cook what are we meant to eat?"

The innkeep then arrived with four plates of sushi.

* * *

For his size the fox's grip was surprisingly strong, as Buruto had been shaking the scroll vigorously for a while now, yet the kit's little paws still clung on desperately. Then with a sudden, loud ripping, the scroll split in two.

"No!" Chibiki slammed a foot into the fox's chest, pinning him to the floor, before he noticed that the scroll was not what he had thought it was. "A map? Still at least now he could deal with the fox. He lifted the vulpine up by the throat and tried to smash his face into a tree. There was a sudden flash of green and Chibiki's fist collided with the tree. The vulpine was standing a few feet away, looking somewhat smug.

* * *

"Very well, if you don't like me talking, let's see you handle this!" His lifted his blade into the air, and lightning crashed into it from out of nowhere. "The power of aether!" He brought his katana down, and lightning flew towards the wide-eyed bobtail.

"What kind of tanuki are you?" She exclaimed, rolling to the side and launching her knives in one fluid motion.

"I'm not a tanuki…" He frowned, blocking the knives with his own blade, before throwing a shuriken crackling with blue thunder. The bobtail only narrowly avoided it. She ought to have left the seduction to Chibiki.

* * *

"So the whole palace is empty? That's ridiculous. People don't just abandon things like that." Su was trying very hard to come up with a rational explanation.

"Maybe we caught them all while they were having a bathroom break?" Wan asked, the words dripping with doubt.

* * *

Chibiki swung his weapon once more, the blade slicing the air above the fox's head. The vulpine then disappeared in another flash of green to avoid Buruto's fist, which could have hammered him into the ground like a nail.

* * *

"You know, this sooshey's actually pretty good." Jin said, finding Jin the Assassin's accent had faded deep inside of him.

Han Guan however, narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, ' _actually_ '?"

* * *

Denko darted forwards, his blade missing the nimble feline as she dodged, and then blocked with her long dagger. This last move proved disastrous as the avian's blade was still coated in lightning, which travelled through Izumi's weapon and into her body.

* _ZAAAAAAAP_ *

Her fur exploded into sharp pines around her, and she fell backwards. Denko sheathed his blade and stood over her limp form. The raven bent over and smirked.

"Looks like you're all fried up. I guess-" He was cut short when a powerful knock-out coated dart flew into his shoulder. The avian teetered and fell backwards.

Sutoaraiki frowned. He wasn't big enough or strong enough to lift both of them. If only he'd had the sense to bring his more lethal poisons. He grabbed Izumi by the shoulder, and with difficulty buzzed off into the woods.

* * *

The fox had done his best to avoid the bear and the gorilla, and it was a testament to his skill that he had avoided both for so long, but he was only a kit. He teleported away from the kusarigama, and right into Buruto's waiting fist. The gorilla then proceeded to grab hold of his fluffy tail and repeatedly bash him into the ground.

Chibiki rose and spun his kusarigama. Time to end this and get back to the job! He shot out his weapon, which was deflected by a billy club someone had thrown at it. Then a burly tiger exploded from the forest and swung for Chibiki's head, the bear only just managing to evade the blow. Reidak rolled forwards, and picked up his other club.

"I was told Japanese people had honor. Where is the honor in killing a ditva?"

Why were so many unrelated people speaking Chinese today? "There is honor in killing a thief, tiger-kun." The black bear replied pointedly. "And any man that stands between me and my honor is a dead man. So step aside."

Reidak frowned. "Killing a thief? What did this child steal that so damaged your pride?"

Chibiki growled in annoyance. Why were so many people trying to bother him? Why couldn't the tiger have just left it alone? Chibiki swung and the scythe flew through the air. Reidak sent it flying away with a swing of his own weapon, before ducking as Buruto the gorilla aimed for him with his fist, the fox was running away, Reidak could still 'see' him, but to Buruto and Chibiki, he was gone.

The feline brought his left club into Buruto's chin, before kicking the gorilla in the chest. The large ape flew away, while Reidak resumed his duel with Chibiki. The bear's chain wrapped around his club and wrenched it from the tiger's grip, only for Chibiki to get nailed in the face with the other club. Then Buruto swung again, but Reidak saw him coming and ducked. Chibiki did not and was sent hurtling by the ape. The Russian then slammed a leg into the back of the ape's knee, bringing his face into dangerous proximity with the tiger's knee. Reidak retrieved his club, noting that the kit was now no longer alone and far away enough to not be in danger. Then he continued on his way.

* * *

"What do you mean you never even left the forest?" The kit looked like he had been in a fight, and was sweating profusely as well as gasping for breath.

"I was held up." He explained after three minutes of holding a paw up to signal his companions to wait. "By some guys. I managed to get this as well." He showed them the scroll he had stolen.

Su opened it, and peered inside, Wing and Wan stared in from the sides. All their eyes widened.

"Told you he wasn't useless!" Wan exclaimed as Su rolled the scroll back up.

"You have a name?" She asked politely, handing him back the pilfered parchment.

"Saras Kanbujian 'Kanbu' Shifty." The fox replied, his little chest swelling with pride at being called 'not useless' by a professional assassin. His chest deflated faster than a balloon when Wing next spoke.

"Wow Kanbujian, your full name's bigger than you."

"Well that makes our job easier. Plan a way to get in and get what you want and we'll handle the rest." Su finished.

"Now, let's get some rest." Wan chimed in happily.

* * *

Denko came to cursing under his breath. He had sensed the dart coming, but hadn't been quick enough to respond. And now his fears were realized, the bobtail was gone. She had been up to no good-he had sensed that too, that and she had been very quick to resort to violence, honest folks tended to talk before hurling knives. And she had looked familiar.

"What happened here?" Reidak asked as he emerged from the woods, his suspicions of Denko vanishing almost completely upon noticing the clear signs of there having been a battle.

The raven frowned. "I think we have a heist on our hands."

* * *

"Hahahaha, I win!" Han Guan pulled forwards the mass of coins, spilling them onto his lap. For someone who had been so desperate to win them over, he really didn't mind sucking their coin bags dry.

Then he put on an innocent smile. "Again? Lang-san, you can shuffle."

The wolf did so. Hek Zei had introduced the wolverine to the game Black Jong, and had won the first three times easily. However, ever since Han Guan had caught on to the game he had gone on a winning streak and now had five to Hei Zei's three.

When Jin came last for the ninth game in a row it took every inch of self-restraint to stop himself turning the mustelid into a crossbow pin-cushion while laughing maniacally.

"Jin are you okay?" Hei Zei asked, on the verge of bringing the score to five-four.

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're ripping the cards to shreds?" The raccoon pointed out.

Jin suddenly gave a large, loud, fake yawn and stretched. "I'm just really tired."

Han Guan stood up immediately. "Ladies and-"

"We're all gentlemen." Hei Zei remarked, deadpan.

"Er, right. Follow me!"

* * *

"Yeesh, what happened to you guys?" Sutoaraiki asked. Chibiki had a few brusises and Buruto looked disgruntled.

Chibiki gave him a long look. "I think the Chinese are invading."

"Really?"

"No. But I think we're not the only ones interested in the Silver Fang."

* * *

 _Footnote: Few fights here, I think calling them 'skirmishes' is a more accurate description. Still, the plot is moving. So we have the Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands, the Brotherhood, the Wu sisters, Denko, Reidak and Saras. The cards are shuffled! Let the heist begin!_

 _On another note I have not abandoned my other stories, merely focusing on this one._


	6. Filling the Gap

"It was a bobtail and there was this hornet. They looked familiar-like I've seen them before, somewhere." Denko continued speaking about the opponents he had faced. Han Guan and the other new recruits had to be brought to speed regarding the threat immediately.

"Well none of us are Japanese." Reidak pointed out, referring to himself and the Brotherhood.

"I'm just a guard." Han Guan responded sheepishly.

Denko scowled in frustration. "They'll be back-I'm sure of it. And when they do return we'd best be ready for them."

Reidak shrugged. "I'm always ready."

"So are we." Hei Zei added.

Han Guan beamed at them all. "I'm sure whoever's trying to rob this place is going to have a very nasty surprise!" The evil-sounding laugh that followed was not a sound Han Guan normally made.

"Right. Well I'm going to go meditate." The avian sighed, rubbing his forehead.

* * *

"This will do." Wing said, for once sounding satisfied.

Saras was having a twitching fit with his right eye and left ear. "Three Master bedrooms, a sitting room complete with furniture, a large kitchen, a dining room and on top of that a swimming pool? Is all this really necessary?"

Wan turned to him. "You've never been on a heist before have you? Trust me, we need this."

"But a swimming pool?! Is that _really_ necessary?"

Su gave him a look. "We were stuck in barrels for three days. We are getting a swimming pool."

The fox drooped low. "Fine, have the swimming pool. Have it all." Then he turned and walked away on all fours. "I'm going to go train."

"Train what?" Wan asked.

The fox withdrew several scrolls from a bag none of them had seen before. "Er-c-calligraphy." He dropped one, which rolled away from him. Wing picked it up and was about to unfurl it when the fox snatched it back from her. "It's private!" And with that he left.

"What's up with him?" Wing asked.

"I think he's going through puberty." Wan finished.

* * *

"So this kid just starts poofing away after he's robbed your scroll? And a raven lightning-zaps you? And a blindfolded tiger comes out of nowhere and kicks your butts?" Sutoaraiki was struggling to make sense of it all. "What on earth is happening?"

"Sutoaraiki-san, shut up. I'm trying to think, and stop my fur from imploding." Izumi remarked.

"The fox is involved with the Silver Fang." Chibiki was pacing around their hideout. "The tiger I don't know about, but the raven is also involved. He must have been guarding the estate." The black bear pounded a fist into the wall. "Hoku-sama didn't mention that did he!"

"And where are all the guards?" Sutoaraiki asked. "There should be like twenty of them at least!"

"That's what he said." Chibiki growled. "The raven. According to you he's alone?"

"I suggest we press on and attack with all our strength." Izumi suggested.

"No! There's still the fox, he's after the same thing as us. He may even be watching us now."

"So what do we do?" Izumi demanded.

"We'll wait it out! When he attacks! We attack, and then we kill him and the raven." Yes, everything was back in his control. And Hoku could suck himself and his lies.

* * *

Jin chose to call it a day early. Between a new job and the discovery that his old friends weren't dead he found he needed rest most of all. He was just about to go to sleep when a familiar scent found it's way to his nose. Wan. He missed her already. He could smell a trace of Su as well... And Wing. His eyes snapped open as his heart began to pump faster. He could definetly, definetly smell them.

He sat up, sweating already. They couldn't be here! Not in Japan! The scent followed out of the window. He had to make sure…

* * *

Lang was sick of cards, but Hei Zei and Han were starting their twelfth match. He had decided to head for some training when he spotted Jin sneaking out of the estate. Something struck him. Jin had not exactly been himself that day... Deciding something was up the wolf loosened his metear hammer and followed close by.

* * *

On a flat tract of land of soft, green grass situated atop a waterfall in the center of the woods. There were nine scrolls open around him in a circle. Hedgehog, Armadillo, Mole, Crane, Mouse, Platypus, Catfish, Hummingbird and Dragon. Saras stood in the center, taking deep breaths. He would do this this time.

 _"They must all be unique, have something special. There must be a reason for you choosing them." The old vulture had said._

 _"But I still get to pick an animal to turn into?" The young fox asked._

 _"Yes that is the gist of it." Was the deadpan reply._

He thrust a fist into his open palm. There was a flash of green and he stood there, shorter, with light brown fur and darker brown quills. "Fox to hedgehog…"

He flipped onto his paws. There was a flash of green, and standing there with the scaley natural armour of an armadillo, his plates pink and purplish in colour.

"Hedgehog to armadillo…"

He curled up into a ball. A flash of green later and with a thick, purple crash helmet, blue goggles and dark grey fur he unfurled as a mole.

"Armadillo to mole..." And he buried into the earth, then burst through again. "Mole to crane…"

Dark grey, black and white feathers covered his body, now topped with a golden rice hat. He spread his wings wide and flapped into the air. A flash of green later and he was falling through the air in light brown fur, with little, white buckteeth and a pink tail. He landed on his paws, and flipped himself back to his feet. "Crane to mouse…"

He punched his palm again, and a flash of green later he stood with the brown fur, golden bill and tail and webbed feet of a platypus.

"Mouse to platypus…

Another flash and he was slumped against the grass, with a long, chubby pink body striped black and white whiskers.

"Platypus to catfish…" He curled up and green flashed. He stood there, minute and blue as a hummingbird.

"Catfish to hummingbird…" He flapped his small wings repeatedly. "Hummingbird to dragon…" He flapped into the air, his light blue wings were a blur. He dove for the grass and a flash of green later…

An oddment crashed into the ground. It had the tail of a fox, bill of a platypus and feathers of a crane.

Saras got up snarling in frustration. He got onto all fours, dug his claws into the ground and focused.

Head of a fox, tail of a crane, body of a mouse.

Catfish head on a mole. Armadillo with spines. Hummingbird with crane legs. Mole with webbed feet. Fox with mouse tail.

He fell on his stomach into the circle of scrolls, his now-normal tail limp behind him.

Ever since his reunion with the Bei gem he had progressed at a fantastical rate. Daitui had discovered his potential as a shapeshifter after he had accidentally grown the quills of a hedgehog on the back of his head after sneezing once at breakfast. The rest was history. Ten forms. Daitui had summarised. That should be his limit. Yet his last form had been ambitious. A dragon. And he was slightly regretting that. It was hard enough changing into a mouse. It was hard for several reasons. A dragon could not be learned from firsthand. He had followed moles, cranes and mice around, picking up their attributes. He had studied armadillos, catfish, hummingbirds and platypi in scroll after scroll of knowledge. He was a fox naturally. But a dragon? That was a bit much… Maybe he should have picked a gorilla instead. He snarled in frustration once more. He could do it. He would do it.

Climbing to his feet he prepared to repeat the procedure, when he heard slow clapping and the distinctive sounds of a language he did not understand. He noticed a raven, clad in navy blue clothes, watching from nearby.

 _I probably should have picked a more secluded spot..._

* * *

 _Footnote: A shorter chapter, but the next one should make up for it._

 _I also enjoy the idea of Saras' failures coming out at mixed forms and think his training scene was something the old Heist should have had._

 _Now Saras as a character has changed... A lot since I first wrote him. Originally, and I'm not joking. He was meant to be Crane. Hence why he got little development in the original stories. It was meant to be a plot twist like no other, that two unconnected characters were truly the same person... But then Saras happened. His name means Crane in Hindi by the way, for that reason. All the Deleted Archive stories were written with this idea. But he grew on me as his own person and I guess eventually became one, an OC rather than an OOC. I'm really glad he did actually._

 _Anyways Enjoy._


	7. Battling for the Scroll

Surprised described Denko best. The fox looked no older than ten, and had been changing forms like it was natural, and the last few ones had been abominations! Then again this was Japan and Denko had been alive to see the tanuki and kitsune, both of whom had vanished. Intrigued he approached, curious to know more about the vulpine.

He clapped, and surprise turned to appreciation. It had been a good show, despite the ending.

"Congratulations young one. That was a marvellous display."

It was clear from the bewildered look he received in turn that the kit had not understood anything. The light brown eyes darted to his sword and back at him.

"I mean no harm." The raven added, placing his wings in the air. "I was merely impressed by your display.

"Um…" Saras relaxed slightly, only due to the innocent stance the avian had taken. He had still understood nothing.

Then Denko realized. "Oooh, you're Chinese. I was merely complimenting your skills."

"Riiiiiiight." The fox was still wary, and now was hastily gathering up the scrolls.

"A dragon?" The raven frowned, picking up the final scroll in the circle. It was a fanciful drawing of a thin, bat-winged dragon with red scales and black horns. He smiled a little. "My title is the Dragon of Yang."

"Er- that's great." The fox snatched the scroll back and turned away. He tripped on the hem of his green cloak, and fell to the floor, a bundle of scrolls spilling around him. One rolled towards the avian, and opened at his feet. It read, in both Chinese and Japanese 'Plans of the Silver Fang Estate'.

Saras got up, and took one look at the open scroll and the raven.

"What's this?" Denko asked. No wonder the fox had been in such a hurry.

"Er- it's a-." The fox started, but Saras failed to think of an excuse and ended with an audible gulp.

"I'm interested to find out how you got hold of this." Denko said, though his tone was not harsh and his sword remained undrawn.

"I… Er- found it?" The fox blurted out.

"Really?" The raven replied deadpan.

"Well not really, but-"

"How did you get this?"

The tension was so thick it seemed neither could move. The only sound was the rush of the waterfall.

Then Saras picked up a scroll threw it at him. The raven drew his blade and sliced the poor parchment clean in half.

"Er…heh-heh." The fox gulped again.

Denko replied with a pair of shuriken. Saras teleported away from them in a flash of green. He reappeared behind the now smirking Denko, who blocked the fox's claws with his unsheathed blade.

"I don't mean any harm. I just want to know how you got the scroll."

Saras gulped again. "Why do you even care?"

Denko paused to think of a reply. And in that pause there was a flash of green where the fox teleported over to the plans and picked it up. The other scrolls weren't as important anyways.

Denko shot a shuriken at it and flung the scroll into the air, where the raven made to go for it. To his surprise a crane caught it first in one long leg, before taking off into the air with his larger wings. The smaller avian sheathed his sword and gave chase.

Saras had had a headstart, but was not as accustomed to flying as the raven, who was gaining on him fast. A puff of green later and Saras went from soaring to falling.

Denko let out an unprofessional squawk as the mole fell past him like a boulder, before regaining his composure and diving after the falling form.

As the ground drew closer Saras shifted into his armadillo, and curled into the relative safety of a ball, the scroll tucked in safely against his stomach. As the pink and purple ball hit the ground, his leathery hide and the soft grass propelled him back upwards, and right into the diving raven. Then both were falling, and hit the grass where they had started. Saras uncurled, looking somewhat green, while Denko got up.

The shapeshifter was surprised to find his opponent was still good-natured. "Don't make me hurt you. There is no honor in harming children."

"Well, I'm not exactly asking for a fight either." Saras replied, stalling for time.

"Fine. Hand over the scroll and you're free to go." Denko replied, apparently relaxing.

Then Saras changed forms, and a puff of green later the armadillo was a mole once more, and desperately digging into the earth.

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." The raven drew his blade, which crackled with lightning.

The shapeshifter charged head on, a mound of raised earth trailing in his wake. He burst out of the ground head-first, and received a kick to the head that would have knocked him out had he not been wearing the purple crash helmet. Instead it only hurt a lot. He teleported away before the raven could do any more damage to him, and became a hedgehog a few feet away.

"Two can play at that game." Denko muttered. Lightning struck him from the air and a moment later there was no raven.

Saras blinked. Lightning crashed behind him and standing there was Denko.

"You didn't think you were the only teleporter in the world did you?" He remarked at the flabbergasted look on the shapeshifter's face. He then swung low.

The hedgehog landed on his back, Denko grabbed hold of the scroll as it fell loose.

"Well, now that that's been-" He only just blocked the spines. The hedgehog had spun around, and they had come loose at the raven. Then in another flash of green a hummingbird rushed past, and took the comparatively larger scroll with it. Only to find that Denko was preventing him from flying away by holding back on the smaller avian's tail. The hummingbird swapped directions and crashed repeatedly into the raven's wing, until Denko had to let go. Saras swapped into a mouse and made to scurry away. To his surprise there were two more ravens flanking the first one, all three of whom had matching blades. He blinked in response only to get kicked into the dirt by the one in the middle. Then he was tossed into the air and the blade came flying towards him. He landed on his head, only to find his pants had been sliced clean open.

Denko was also holding the scroll, and the blade pointed at Saras. "I did that on purpose." The mouse, to his surprise, launched himself forwards, rolling under the blade he scurried up the raven's leg, leaving a significant mouse-shaped bulge racing around the inside of the avian's ninja outfit. Unfortunately for Saras Denko was a ninja, trained to not make a sound. He was not ticklish. Or stupid enough to try and whack at the shape.

"What are you doing?" He asked, utterly deadpan.

The mouse did not reply as he raced around him, before snatching the scroll out of his grip.

The mouse landed on the soft grass, still clutching the scroll, only to duck the flat of the sword as it flew over his head, and knocked the plans out of his paws, and into Denko's awaiting wing. The raven then took to the air. Saras was not about to give up immediately, and chose his crane, giving chase to the now-smaller avian. Denko may have been a better flier, but a crane was naturally faster than a raven, and was soon in reach of the bird. A puff of green later and a platypus was falling down, just managing to grab hold of the raven's feet as he went. Denko was more than capable of lifting the billed mammal, but the sudden weight came as a surprise and they dropped a foot closer towards the ground-and into an extremely fat tree-branch. Denko just managed not to fall down completely. He dragged himself on top of the branch, only to find that Saras had dropped onto the forest floor next to the river, scroll in webbed foot. With a smug look Denko desperately wanted to wipe off his face the shapeshifter fell back into the river with a splash. Denko frowned, and gave chase, drawing his blade with his talons. It crackled with energy. If he used too much power he could very easily kill the kit, but the fate of the world depended on that scroll! He plunged it into the water, where lightning crackled around. There was a flash of green and the shapeshifter was on dry land looking like he had been hit by lightning.

"You were lucky it was a glancing blow, and if I had used my full power your tail would be fried." Lucky for you I don't hurt children. "Now please, just hand over the scroll."

"Er… Well this is a bit of a dilemma." The platypus backed away from the blade. He was sweating profusely, and platypus sweat was milk… "I'm guessing if I yell 'look over there' you won't look?"

"Why?"

"Well in books one guy yells 'look over there' and then another guy looks over and when he looks back the first guy's gone. Heh-heh… I'll shut up now…"

"Just give the scroll. You have no idea how important that is!"

"No! You have no idea how important this is!" He retorted, waving the scroll around… Only for it to drop open. Inside was the picture of a thin, red-scaled dragon.

They both blinked and looked back towards the waterfall.

* * *

The mansion was large and out of town-and stunk of Wan Wu. There even was a swimming pool. Thoughts of his mate flooded Jin's mind. Her fur. Her eyes. Her voice yelling 'Jin!' While in the background a disgruntled Wing asked 'what are you doing here?' And yet he could not make himself smile. What if He I Zei and Lang found out? Would he be forced to reveal the truth about himself? Would he be forced to choose the love of his life over his former friends. Much as he loved the sight of her he hoped dearly that she did not open the door.

His hopes were answered. Wing opened the door.

"Jin!" Yelled Wan who was behind her, and she pounced onto him.

"What are you doing here?" Wing asked, sounding exactly like she had in Jin's mind.

"What are you guys doing here!?" He squeeled, his heart pumping vigorously.

"Yeah Jin!" Cut in another voice. To his horror, the fox, Wan still attached to him, turned to see Lang spinning a meteor hammer around. "What the hell are you doing here?"

* * *

 _Footnote: The next chapter focuses a bit more on the other characters, but I suppose I got a little carried away with the Battle for the Scroll, which became the center of this chapter. But as you can tell from the little twist at the end I haven't forgotten everyone else._


	8. Explaining Your Predicament

"It's not what it looks like!" Jin defended immediately, uncomfortably aware that Wan was hugging him.

"You!" Wing growled having caught sight of Lang. She stretched her claws. "Sisters!"

"That's Su's line! No Lang relax-"

There was a bit of pain on the lupine's face, but mostly there was just a tonne of anger. He let the meteor hammer fly at the doorway.

Jin didn't move in time and took the brunt of the force, he was sent flying into the Wus with what felt like seventy broken ribs. Wan toppled over on top of him, Wing fell back into the hall, but Su had avoided the collision and was utterly livid.

"You'll pay for that!", she unsheathed her claws, and charged forwards, hopping over Wing and Wan and ducking under the meteor hammer as Lang swung it back round at her. She then brought her claws down his shirtless-front. Only for them to hit his metal scar. The wolf then upercut her, knocking her back several feet, before swinging the meteor hammer at her. Wing pounced out of nowhere and stopped the weapon in it's tracks, holding onto the great big stone and snarling.

"How many times do I have to kill you before you stay dead?"

Lang didn't get a chance to respond as at that moment Wan, who had disentangled herself from Jin, flew in with a spin kick that knocked him down and turned the tug of war to Wing's favour.

"Missed me!" She giggled as she somersaulted back to her sisters, and away from his swing.

Su was on her feet, and suddenly all three had the same expression. Their tails connected to each other, Wan unsheathed her claws and suddenly they were spinning forwards in the infamous Wu Vortex.

Lang had enough sense now to turn around and run like the wind while yelling words frowned upon by the more polite members of society.

"No!" Jin yelled as the vortex tore after Lang. He picked a crossbow and latched an explosive arrow onto it, before pulling the trigger. The bolt flew through the air and exploded the second it made contact with the vortex, and the three leopards were sent flying in three separate directions. Wing's face met mansion wall and she slid down to the ground with an audible groan. Wan landed with a splash in the swimming pool and Su crashed into the dirt as gravity did it's duty.

Lang gave Jin a mixed glare that had traces of sadness in the eye. "Well thanks for nothing!"

He turned to pick up his meteor hammer, but the fox shot him in the knee. Lang fell to his knees with a scream of pain. "Traitor! You fucking bastard! Just kill me! Have it done with!-"

"I shot you with a blunt you big baby." Jin snapped, the assassin had risen out of him the second he had lifted a crossbow. "I just saved you as well, and if you even think about going for your hammer I will shoot you!" The tall fox replaced his crossbows, then crossed his arms over his chest. "Now I want you to listen-"

"Traitor!" Lang snapped, rising to his feet and pouncing for his weapon. A well-placed crossbow bolt sent the chain flying out of his reach.

"Just listen!" Jin snapped, his paw quivering ever so slightly as he pointed the crossbow at his friend.

Lang didn't move, but growled in place. From the corner of his eye he spotted Su getting up and pointed his other crossbow at Wing's unconscious form.

Su understood the threat and snarled, her claws digging into the ground.

"Now Lang, see the thing is me and Wan are mates now, okay? And I am one of China's best assassins, but that's not what we're talking about here!"

"Mates?" Lang spat the word with disgust, then pointed an accusatory claw at the vulpine. "We spent all our life hunting them and now you're mates!?"

"Well when you put it like that-but that's not the point guys! All this revenge thing does is make people go cukoo. Sure they tried to burn us alive, but we all did some pretty stupid things back in the day, right? And sure we locked them up and all but that's not what we're talking about! And you were 'killed' and Zei fell down a volcano and all, but it's all for the best, am I right?"

For all their differences Su and Lang's dumbfounded expressions were remarkably similar.

Lang then went back to growling. "They're hired killers! You think our lives are the only ones they ruined?"

"I'm a hired killer Lang… Sometimes you don't have a choice…" He trailed off, with a very far-off expression. Then he went back to a forced grin. "But that ain't what we're talking about now! Let's all go inside and have a cup of tea."

"There is no way on earth-"

"I would never drink tea with this-"

Half an hour later Su and Wing were seated on one side of the table, scowling and glaring respectively at Lang who was facing them, with Jin and a towel-coated Wan in the middle. They were sipping tea.

* * *

Chibiki had once been Master Masuta's pupil. He had been an exceptional student. He could have fought in tournaments fit for kings, and wage war against Demon Mountain… But that had been a long time ago... The waterfall was the same, and the climb to the top he had feared once upon a time was effortless. The patch of clean grass at the top was the same, the molehill, a line of raised earth and a hole in the ground were new, not to mention the scrolls spilled all over the grass.

He blinked and picked up the nearest one, and unrolled it. It was none other than the scroll that had been stolen from him earlier on that day by the kit. He slammed it shut and stuffed it down his belt. He could sniff the fox's scent. And the air also stunk of… Raven. And mole, crane, hummingbird, mouse... Had there been a party or something?

Denko halted in front of the bear, and noted the scroll on his belt. Then he remembered where he'd seen the bobtail and the hornet before. "The Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands…" He said out loud, drawing his blade.

To his surprise the bear seemed to recognize him as well. "The lightning raven..." He drew his kusarigama and katana.

Then Saras flew in as a crane, landed, shifted into a fox and leant on a rock wall, huffing and puffing, holding a finger for time-out.

The bear and the bird spared him a glance before beginning their battle.

* * *

Wan could feel Jin's nervous desperation. She could tell he was desperate for a kind of cease-fire. He loved her, and he loved Lang-though not in the same way obviously, he couldn't choose between them though. He had as he put it 'always liked her more than he should have', but for the orphaned Jin, Hei Zei and Lang had been to him what Su and Wing were to her.

"So… Yeah. There isn't another Jin." Jin concluded weakly, after explaining to Lang how he had descended into desperation and become an assassin, how Wan had helped him through the process of becoming a killer and how they had ended up together. He had then explained to the Wus how he had met up with Hei Zei and Lang only a few hours ago.

"So you guys are guarding the Silver Fang?" Su asked, and Wan realized that her older sister couldn't care about the raccoon and the wolf without thinking about their job.

"Yes." Lang growled. "And what are you doing? Robbing it?!"

"No." All three sisters replied immediately.

"We were just checking the place out." Wan added innocently, and technically she wasn't lying.

"So it's easy." Jin said. "You guys stay away from each other and this time nobody dies."

Wing and Lang gave the fox identical glares.

"How can you be my sister's mate-"

"How could you ever consider us your friend-"

"Shut up! Guys Jin's right-"

"Don't you mean _'Jinny-poo_ '." Lang mocked, making the fox go red.

"He saved your ungrateful tail brainless! And he saved your life Su-"

"And let his so-called brother fall down Hubei volcano-" Lang interrupted again.

"I'll throw you down a volcano if you interrupt her again!" Jin snapped suddenly.

"Yeah!" Wan agreed, nodding. She then giggled at the dumb-strucked look on the lupine's face. "He's sweet like that!"

"Aw I think you're sweet too!"

"If they make out I'm going to puke." Lang groaned.

"You get used to it." Su confided as Jin and Wan were obliviously bickering about whether 'sweet' was a positive adjective for their line of work.

"No." Wing said. "You really don't."

"Anyways." Wan said, turning back to the other three. "For the sake of Jin I will stay away from you and your burnt boyfriend."

Lang glared hatefully at Wing, then stared at Jin, who was performing the unbeatable Puppy-Dog-Eyes Technique, first created by Master Puppy-Dog. The wolf sighed. "Fine! For your sake Jin! I still hate you though!" He added to Wing.

"Right back atcha you sonofa-"

"Very well. You and Hei Zei don't come after us and we won't come after you." Su cut in curtly.

"Fine!" Wing huffed.

"Fine!" Lang shot back.

"Okay!"

"Okay!"

"Done!"

"Done!"

Then Lang huffed again and turned to leave.

Jin kissed Wan on the cheek. "I gotta go, new job and all-"

"Do you have to go now?" She asked. It was her turn now to perform the Puppy-Dog-Eyes Technique.

"Jin! We're leaving!" Lang hollered.

"Yes. Now. I'll pick you up later. We can check out Japan if that's okay with you."

"I'd love to!"

"There's this place-"

"Jin!" Came Lang's voice.

"Catch you later sweetie!"

"Bye, I love you!"

"See you soon!"

"I miss you already!"

"JIN!" And after that Jin finally left.

"Well that went well." Wan said cheerfully.

Su frowned ever so slightly. This made things considerably harder… Oh well at least she wasn't the one who had to plan it.

* * *

Steel clashed as the raven's blade met the bear's. Denko then had to duck as the kusarigama flew to where his head had been a moment before. He performed his lightning-teleportation and swung at the bear's unprotected back, and was surprised to find his swing parried.

"The next person who tries something like that is going to get their skull cracked right open!"

Saras neglected to inform the bear that that had already happened to him.

Denko hopped backwards as the kusarigama dug into the earth he had been standing on a mere moment before. He then parried the bear's blade as it came from above for an overhead swing. The bear was then forced to play defensive as the raven unleashed three ninja stars, taking the time to manouever backwards and away from his opponent. Chibiki was better at close combat and had greater strength than him-but what the bear lacked was magic. The avian warrior sheathed his sword.

The ursine readied himself for combat, when to his surprise the fox kit became a mouse and dived down his armour.

Denko watched as the bear slammed his back against a stone wall, before fishing out the now-squashed mouse and dropping him to the ground. Then their duel continued, while the flattened Saras wondered what made Japanese people incapable of laughter.

Denko took his bow and an arrow from out of thin air and shot it at Chibiki, who just dodged.

Saras, who was a fox again, was just getting up when the arrow flew into his tail.

He gave a loud yell of pain, before extracting the offending weapon and desperately blowing on his injured tail.

Denko sighed… That had been his most potent arrow. The raven dodged the bear's kusarigama and flapped out of reach.

Then the effects of his arrow took over Saras, who suddenly became numb amd whimpered.

"What did you do to him?" The black bear asked as he spun his chained scythe, waiting for the raven to strike.

"That arrow makes the target witness their greatest fear." The raven explained, seeing as there was no reason to lie about it. He nocked another arrow.

* * *

"Hey Lang… Ya think we can.. Well ya know… _NOT_ tell Hei Zei about any of this?" Jin asked as the two made their way back to the Silver Fang.

Lang growled but didn't say anything.

"You know how he gets!" Jin pleaded. "Even if we refuse to help him he'll get all obsessed again. And I don't want him to get burned alive… again."

Lang bit his lip, took one look at Jin's puppy dog eyes and lost the will to protest. "Fine! We'll keep this from Hei!"

Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He truly had dodged a bolt there!

* * *

 _Footnote: I like how all these chapters are interconnected and happening in quick succession, it's a nice change of pace I find._

 _The highlights of this chapter are probably Jin and Wan's mini Romeo and Juliet. I love the dynamic between these characters :y_


	9. Thinking of Jin

_Aang seemed to take forever to fall. One second he had been laughing maniacally, his eyes alive with triumph, the next a blade had thrust itself through his body and sent his blood splattering into the snow._

 _Hopelessness consumed Saras as the bat fell to the snow, the blood welling up around him in a crimson puddle._

Chibiki blocked the next arrow, which spun away, he then swung the kusarigama at his opponent, but Denko had already moved out of range.

 _Aang's killer was roaring with laughter. One moment it had been Chi, the camel's blood dripping grotesquely into the snow. The next it had been the Weeper, his red eyes alight with malice. And finally it was the monster of his childhood. Lord Temujin._

Chibiki swung once more at the raven, who had a new arrow drawn, this one crackled with energy. The ninja avoided the weapon, and loosed the arrow. It missed Chibiki, but connected with the bear's katana, sending a shock of lightning up the bear's arm. With a cry of pain he dropped his sword, his arm hanging uselessly at his side.

"What did you do to me!?" Chibiki growled, sending his scythe flyimg at his opponent, who once more flapped out of reach.

"My aether lightning travelled through the metal in your sword up your arm, shutting down your nerve points." Denko explained, loosing two shuriken at the bear, who only just avoided both.

A new emotion took over Saras after the initial shock left him. His eyes were wet with tears and his vision was blurred by them. Rage coursed through him. He sliced open his paw with a single claw, the blood dripping out in beads, which he caught in his open mouth. Then he went on all fours, a low growl reverberating in his throat.

Denko drew back the bow-string to release another arrow at the glaring bear. Before he could loose the shaft Chibiki roared in pain, dropped his weapon and tried to bat something off his backside. Out of sheer surprise the arrow missed entirely, and it soon became apparent as to why the bear was suffering.

Teeth clamped firmly shut over the bear's buttocks, his claws digging into the flab with unforeseeable savagery. Saras had gone feral.

"What on earth scares you?" The raven mused aloud.

Chibiki finally succeeded in tearing the fox off his backside-along with a large chunk of his pants-and threw him to the floor.

The vulpine rolled back to his feet, and circled his opponent.

Denko noted the bared teeth, raised hackles and mad eyes. The fox was feral…

Chibiki swung at the animal, but it dodged to the side, before attacking Chibiki's paw with even more fierce brutality. To Denko's surprise the bear responded in a similarly wild way, clamping his teeth on the fox's back, shaking his head from side to side while the vulpine whined. Chibiki was suddenly forced to let go of the fox as three shuriken connected with his butt. He turned, roaring, to face Denko, who sliced at his belt, freeing the scroll, which landed in the pile of other scrolls, before throwing another shuriken.

Chibiki dodged reflexively, tripped over his pants and teetered over the waterfall with a loud yell followed by an even louder splash.

Then Denko picked up the scroll from the pile, and turned to the fox. Saras was growling once more, circling the raven.

Primal instinct told the avian to flee, but ninja training told him to let the fox make the first move. He sheathed his blade, and dropped the scroll at his feet, letting the energy crackle in his wings.

The fox pounced, but Denko was ready, and ducked under the attack, before raising a wing into the fox's stomach. Saras landed on his front, frozen by the nerve attack. The raven removed the antidote from his belt and shoved it down the fox's mouth. A few moment's later the mad fear in his eyes stopped, and was replaced with simple-minded confusion.

"Don't worry kid, the nerve attack will wear off after an hour or two. I'd take you with me but you're a little heavy." To make sure he had the right one the raven opened the scroll. It was the right one. Then Denko took to the air. "Sorry about the fight and all, but I need this! Sayonara!"

* * *

"I'm bored." Han Guan grumbled after Hei Zei beat him in their eighth round of shogi.

The raccoon yawned. "I could do with a rest as well. I think I'll take a nap." He rose to his feet and walked off.

His mind was still reeling from everything that had happened that day. He was surprised he hadn't fainted the second he caught sight of Jin. Ten years… He had written the fox off as dead for ten years… _Another reason to hate the Wus_... And Jin's tale was a bit…bothersome. Another Jin? Another lanky fox with a penchant for crossbows? And being chased after by his duplicate? 'Jin the Assassin' sounded like some half-assed lie, and yet it was so unconvincing that Hei Zei believed it. Jin could have come up with a better excuse if deception was what he wanted, which meant deception was not what he wanted. Then why was it bothering him so much?

The raccoon reached a plain bedroom, undecorated and small, with a single bed squeezed into a corner, a minute circular window, and a white table with a stool next to it in the other corner. He flopped onto the bed, his mind still racing.

Lang had been quick to believe Jin's tales, but the wolf had never been the brain of the group, that had been his role. Yet now his was malfunctioning as it wrestled with the possibilities. If Jin was lying that meant... What did it mean? Jin had been at Chor Form when Wan had escaped... Had he let her loose? But this was Jin... He wouldn't do that! His mind wondered back to memories long buried. The two had been close as children, or had they only seemed close when placed next to Wing and Lang? There had been a time when he and Su Wu had been close. His paws curled into fists in anger. That had been before the fire. He got up and paced the little room, his blood curdling.

Or maybe Jin had just made the best of a bad bargain and become an assassin because it fit into his line of work. But that was also unlike him... Jin had learned how to undo nerve-points, he wasn't a killer. Or maybe he _hadn't_ been... But what could have possibly driven him off the edge?

From the corner of his eye he caught sight of Jin and Lang walking together, both looked deep in thought. Hei Zei sighed. He was most likely just over-thinking things.

* * *

Han Guan was practically skipping across the estate when Denko flew in, holding a scroll. The raven looked dishevelled and a bit tired, but happy at the same time.

"I have good new Han-san. I know exactly who is trying to rob us!"

* * *

Chibiki slipped across the trees, dripping wet and in a furious temper. That infernal bird! As he made his way towards his Brotherhood's camp, dangerously self-aware of his tattered pants and dead arm. The bear stomped past the other three, drawing raised eyebrows and odd looks from them, though they knew better than to comment on it, especially considering his temper.

"Sutoaraiki-san, head to the waterfall, remain hidden and follow the fox. I want to know _who_ he is, _what_ he is and _why_ he's here!"

The hornet didn't need to be told twice and buzzed off.

* * *

 _Footnote: This feels a bit choppy and all but I had to conclude the fight and move on to the next mini-arc, so yeah, a choppy chapter :)_


	10. Discovering New Things

"The Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands?" Han Guan repeated, his voice quivering with fear... Then he went into a full-blown panic. "We are doomed! We are _so_ doomed!" He clutched his head in his paws and started rocking backwards and forwards.

"Who are they?" Reidak asked.

"And who gave them the rights to that name! _We're_ the Brotherhood!" Jin added.

"Not here you're not. The Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands are four of the best killers in Japan. There are four of them." Denko held up a wing.

"Chibiki, their leader. Former disciple of the Silver Fang's own Master Masuta. Then went rogue. Cool, calm, calculated and deadly. He's a great, black bear, and weilds a katana and kusarigama in unison. Once one of Japan's greatest generals... Until he went dark for unknown reasons. We call him Kuroi Akuma- the Black Demon

Han Guan took up the count, sounding haunted. "Sutoaraiki. A giant hornet... Used to be a healer before he turned to serial killing. They say he drove six guards to madness before they could arrest him."

"He fights with wooden darts coated in all sorts of toxins and poisons for varrying effects. Then there's Izumi." The raven continued. "Don't let her size or beauty fool you, she's got the highest body count. Trained from birth to be a top notch assassin... Well her trainers should have learnt to be careful for what they wish for. She's mad, and I suspect has an addition to killing."

Han Guan shivered, while the rest felt the cold air creep down their spines.

"Finally Buruto. Not the sharpest knife in the belt, but one of the most mysterious... And strongest."

"And they're trying to rob us?" Lang asked, unimpressed.

"I should try and get Lord Tohru-sama back as soon as possible-and Lord Hoku-sama too. Get the guards and tell them who we're dealing with." Han Guan was shaking like a leaf.

"Are you sure? Because last time it didn't exactly go smoothly." Reidak commented.

"I don't think we need back-up either." Jin added. "I mean, we are THE Brotherhood-some gang of cutthroats... Pshaw we'll stop them in their tracks.

"The palace is too big for five of us to guard alone." Hei Zei commented. "But if we could narrow it down to what they might want, then we can defend it more effectively." All eyes turned to Han.

"Well I'm not exactly allowed to show you..." He said awkwardly, twiddling his thumbs.

* * *

 _Twenty minutes later..._

* * *

"Ta-da!" It was a barren hall, with a small dragon statuette standing at the end. There wasn't even a door in sight.

"A dragon statue? Is that made out of gold or something?" Jin asked, approaching cautiously, his paws reaching out for the statue. Han Guan smacked the fox's paws.

"It's worth more than your life, Jin-san! No touching!"

"But I wanna." Not even his puppy dog eyes could sway the mustelid.

"But why would anyone want to rob this? There doesn't appear to be much-scratch that _anything_ of value." Reidak remarked.

"Well the vault is somewhere here.. To be honest I don't even know where it is he-he. But that's good right? I mean if the Brotherhood-"

"The other one-" Jin interjected.

"Can't find it, they can't rob it either, can they?" His voice was filled with hope, one which his recruits suspected was a kind of desperation he was clinging onto.

"I suppose that is correct." Hei Zei summarised. "One of us should stay here at all times. We should draw up a shift as well. And we need to move a gong here, that way if this other Brotherhood show up whoever stays here can allert the others."

"Well then... Let's get to work." Lang added.

* * *

"What the hell happened to you?" Wing asked as Saras' battered form walked in.

"A _lot_ of things." The fox replied. He held up paw. "First some random raven shows up and electrocutes me for having the plans. Then some bear decides he wants it too and jumps in. Then I get shot in the tail, watch my brother die and then get paralyzed."

"Well, Wan's boyfriend and his friend showed up and his friend tried to kill us and we tried to kill him and then we all sat down and drank tea." Su shrugged. "I suppose we should expect this considering our line of work. Who ended up with the scroll?"

"The raven." The fox answered, seating himself opposite the trio and taking the cup of tea Wan offered him. "And the bear was the guy I got it from in the first place."

"He seems very interested in the Silver Fang." Su concluded. "I swear something strange is going on with that place. It appears the bear is trying to rob it, and the raven too. They're working separately, which means a grand total of three separate parties are trying to rob it. Meanwhile it is being guarded by Wan's boyfriend and his buddies."

The fox raised an eyebrow. "Any chance we could use hi-"

Wan pulled him by the front of his jumper, waving a fist in his face. "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!"

"Of course not." The vulpine squeaked.

"Good! And the three of us can't be anywhere near him and his buddies during the break-in. You got that?"

"Yes." He responded, resigned.

"Don't ask." Wing added.

"I wasn't going to." The kit yawned widely. Blood Diamond had it's limits and one such one was the sheer exhaustion it left it's user in. "Well, I'm just going to go sleep. I'm honestly not used to all this stress."

As soon as he was out of earshot Wan turned to the other two. "I told you guys he's going through puberty."

* * *

Sutoaraiki watched the fox waddle off, yawning widely. He heard the last comment Wan made and narrowed his eyes. A youngster going through puberty ripped Chibiki's pants? The hornet circled the mansion until he came to an open window. The fox was bandaging his tail, and yawning every half minute. Hid eyelids were drooping dangerously low. Just as the fox lay down to rest a small snore came from him.

Sutoaraiki got to work. He flew into the room, made sure the fox was asleep and then scanned the place. It was bare and empty, save for the bed and the bandages. Hmm, from this he could infer that they were dealing with a professional. He travelled light, and carried only basic first aid equipment. Yet, what kind of proffesional went to bed with an open window that could so easily let in another killer? Well-trained, but unexperienced. Then he proceeded to study the fox.

Indeed the fox most likely was going through some form of growth. He was small, and runty-looking, thin and clearly exhausted.

The hornet wondered whether it would be easier to simply hit the fox with a dart and be done with it. But Chibiki had been in a sore mood and he hadn't felt like pushing the bear off the edge. Still... If it could look like an accident then it was probably the best course.

He was about to take action when the door flew open, and Wing entered, growling. Sutoaraiki flew out the window, and heard the shouting.

"If you want to wake up with that fur still on get OUT of my room."

The fox had clearly been sleeping peacefully and was slow on the uptake. His groggy response of 'Wh-what?", ended with him flying out the door.

Sutoaraiki frowned. The fox was clearly the underling. He wondered if that was better or worse.

* * *

Denko decided to take over the night's watch from Han Guan. The wolverine was nodding off, slumped against the wall. Jin and Lang were already snoring, Reidak and Hei Zei were either asleep, or in other thoughts. The raven whistled.

Han Guan pounced into the air, and entered a stance, suddenly wide awake. Then his shoulders slumped and his eyelids drooped.

"Oh, it's just you Denko-san." He sounded relieved and exhausted all at once.

"You need to sleep Han. You're no good protecting the vault if you don't even have the energy to stay awake."

The wolverine's ears drooped. "Just say it. I'm doomed."

"Doomed? You have five incredibly competent fighters protecting this vault. Lord Tohru-sama would be proud if he could see the effort you're making."

The wolverine's ears raised themselves a little. "You think so?"

"I know so. Now go get some sleep. I'll take over from here."

Han Guan grinned. "You have no idea how grateful I am for your help. I am forever indebted to all of-"

"Goodnight."

"Oh, yeah, er... Oyasumi!" And with that the wolverine walked away.

Denko felt a stab of pity. The poor, incompetent fool. He had no idea how deep he was in. Drawing his blade the raven approached the statuette. But one hopeless fool's honor was not worth more than the fate of Japan.

The vision had come in his dreams. A warning, that Japan would descend into chaos. The dream had been vivid and horrible.

 _A silver fang, shining as brightly as the sun itself, split in half. One fang buried itself into Japan, and flames tore the land apart. Then the bodies had piled up. Vague, faceless bodies. Rotting on riversides, burning in flames, holding blades that stuck out of their skulls._

He shivered at the memory, and turned back to the task at hand. This was the power of the sun, that would destroy Japan. Well, if he destroyed it first it wasn't going to do anyone harm. The walls pulsed a power he could almost feel. He doubted the others could, certainly not Han Guan at least.

His blade crackled with energy, and he plunged it into the dragon's mouth. There was a pause...

And nothing happened.

* * *

 _Footnote: It feels like forever since I wrote some good ole KFP! Damn, I must be loosing my touch._

 _Anyways I do have a good excuse, it's got twenty-plus books and one word. That's right Redwall. Now my fascination with it is caused due to my luck at finding some very good fanfics. Currently the KFP fandom is swarmed with a lot of Shen stories-like A LOT. I don't have anything against them but it's getting a bit crowded here and I've already read some of them so... Yeah. I'd say I don't have much motivation KFP-wise, and I'll lay the blame on my inability to find some good stuff._

 _Another thing is that with the Stories of Sara's a lot of things *happen* to characters... But they don't really grow. I mean Saras is still the same fox, despite it all. In fact the largest character growth in an entire +300K words (so far) series is Han Guan's. I think says a lot. This isn't really a complaint it's just it gets a bit of the same after a while, so yeah... I'm rambling but I need to mull things over. Don't worry this series is still going strong! Though, er, Back in the Day is on hiatus until VoreLover can give the green light for something. Black and White is shiny and new, but I won't turn away from this!_

 _Ramble over!_


	11. Telling Your Tails

Something was wrong with Jin. Once upon a time, when they had been running, or rather he had been running the Thieves' Guild, he could have asked Jin and believed the answer wholeheartedly. As the Brotherhood, he didn't even have to ask. Yet now, after ten years and the suspicious circumstances of their reunion... Something was up and Jin wasn't just going to tell him.

 _I should ask him..._ His mind trailed off as he frowned into his pillow. Could he expect an honest answer? Surely yes!

But no. It was something he had to find out. He got up and stretched. Then reached over to get his bandages on.

Sometimes you had to make a leap of faith. He'd just find Jin and tell him the truth. _I don't trust anyone anymore..._

* * *

"You know Reidak-san, I've always wondered. How did you get so good at fighting if you're blind?" Han Guan was chewing on an overly large chunk of tofu, keeping up with the tiger's long strides.

The tiger turned to face him, the blindfold still over his eyes. He sighed at the overgrown puppy. "Since we are going to be working together for some time I suppose..." He sighed again, stopped and removed his bandana.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOWOWOWOW! PUTITBACKON_!" Han Guan dropped the tofu and held his paws over his eyes.

Reidak chuckled, but did as he was bid. His eyes, or rather where they had once been, were burned clear off, leaving two empty sockets of gory flesh. "That was a long time ago Han. When I was a young boy."

"What kind of sicko does that to people?" The wolverine looked green in the face. He picked up the tofu and stuffed it in his mouth to serve as a distraction.

"Witches." Reidak shrugged. "My story is probably too disturbing for you."

"Tell me about it! I regret asking." The greenish tinge was fading, but still present.

"What about you? How did you get to be Captain of the Guard?"

"Well... It's a long story." He tried to chuckle hesitantly, but it died down in his throat and left him looking sombre.

"I have the time." Reidak shrugged. "Maybe we should start with me?"

"Yeah. Go ahead."

"My mother died shortly after my birth. I never really knew her well. My father was scared of loosing me and sent me to Vladivostok for my safety. One often meets their destiny on the path he takes to avoid it. The town was destroyed and I spent four years in slavery. Eventually I escaped with a friend of mine. But... He died..." The tiger was silent. "I travelled in a box, to the Sunset Kingdom, far far to the west. I was brought to an orphanage. You'd think I'd be overjoyed, but after everything that happened I was weak and skinny, and could not speak their language. I learned, of course... But that is not always easy."

"Kids can be mean." Han Guan agreed weakly, scratching the back of his head.

"I ran away, and spent half a year living on the streets. I stole for a living back then. Until I was caught by an elderly gentleman. I grew up in his home. With food and shelter and I learned to speak many tongues."

"I'm glad your story has a happy ending." Han interjected sullenly. But Reidak was rambling, and didn't hear him over the din of his memories.

"My brother, he lost so much because of me... He took up street fighting to pay for my studies, and one day I saw him. I remembered all the monsters I'd seen beat people to pulps. I thought anyone who raised their fist against another man was a monster. And there I was... Looking at the man I loved, breaking someone's nose."

"What did you do?" Han's voice was quiet and cautious.

"I ran off crying. I was young and stupid... Then the witches found me. And lured me in with hopes of safety and happiness. Do you know pain, Han?"

"To some degree." The wolverine swallowed.

"This was every pain you have ever felt, repeated over and over and over. For three days the witches did what they wanted to me. I was a tool to them. Just like I had been to the slavers. Then my brother came for me. He fought them, I think, and then something happened and the next thing I remember I could no longer see. My face was worse back then, much worse. And the pain... I thought I might die. And I was blind now, my eyes burnt clean off. But everything else was enhanced. I could hear talk from several rooms away. I can catch a scent better than hounds. I can see all around me, everything. I can tell who's standing behind a wall-"

"Can you see through clothes?" Han Guan blurted out.

"What? Yes-why?"

"Well... Er... Can you not look at me-it's a little... Uncomfortable?"

Reidak looked at him in stunned disbelief. The smaller mammal shrank.

"Continuing?"

"Right... So I lost my eyes. One door closed, but others opened. I was taught how to fight, because after that incident it became clear I had to learn. I thought I finally found happiness. Then my world collapsed. My brother won a fight and was killed for it. I was young and angry, and chased revenge like a mad dog. I could fight and I was good at it. I hunted them down. My brother's killers, and killed them one by one. The last one I found at a bar. I fought. He fought back. I won, but in my rage and madness I killed someone who's only crime was being there at the wrong time. Then I ran away from the Sunset Kingdom. What did I have there? A master who abandoned me. A dead brother and the old gentlemen. I travelled ever since, trying to be a good person."

"I guess that's not so bad." Han Guan nodded.

"What about you? Go on. You went through my life without puking, now what's your story?"

"Well... Basically I'm a bastard."

"Geez, you have some self-esteem issues buddy!" Jin came, almost prancing, towards them.

"Good morning." Reidak greeted in turn. "And where are you going?"

Jin pointed backwards. "Denko went to catch some sleep, Hei Zei's still in bed and Lang's guarding the vault. I guess I'm free, so I'm just heading into town, ya know."

"Oh, okay Jin-san. When will you be back?"

"Sometime around night." He shrugged. "I'm a free spirit. I'll just go and come back. Later dudes!" And so he skipped off.

"Well... He seems happy. Where was I?"

"You were saying you're a bastard."

Inwardly, Hei Zei raised an eyebrow, but decided what he had to ask Jin was more important. "Have either of you seen Jin?"

Han Guan pointed dumbly at the gate. The bandaged raccoon nodded, and walked straight past them and out the door.

"Right. So I'm a bastard. My mother was meant to marry some other guy, but then my dad came along and well, I was the result."

"How did that come to pass?" Reidak was asking about how they had fallen in love, Han Guan did not comprehend him.

"You see... When two wolverines fall in love-"

"I know how it happens." Reidak cut him off. "I mean, how did they fall in love?"

"No idea. I never knew my dad. To be honest, the way my mother treated me I'm not surprised he left. Or the clan chased him off. Either way I was a bastard, the marriage pact collapsed and I was blamed for it. It would probably be fine if I looked like them but noooooo I had to look exactly like my dad. Same fur colour. Same slouch." He sighed. "You know what it's like to stick out from a crowd, well I stuck out. The Tail of my clan. I have no brothers, but so many cousins I can barely count them. Now a couple of years back... I was fifteen or something. I... There was this crocodile and he... Well he and Shiza fought and I should have helped, but... I ran and well." The wolverine shook his head. "Let's talk about something else. Do you know Battai?"

* * *

Denko had been pacing almost all night long. And he was still pacing. The sword hadn't worked. The vault had not opened. The dragon was the key, that much was clear, but how did he twist it?

He had tried spinning it. Had searched the whole place for hidden levers or buttons. And nothing had opened.

It was infuriating. He was so close to saving Japan and the cursed gods had to go and make the vaults unlockable. Hell he had even tried smashing the walls down, but as if guarded by some supernatural force, the walls were unscathed. Then again, for all he knew they probably were supernaturally guarded.

Yet there was some small hope. If the vault was unreachable, why had someone sent him the dream? No, there had to be a way inside he hadn't thought of before.

And so Denko kept pacing.

* * *

Saras woke up to someone knocking on the door. He got up grogilly, his head pounding with every whack. A trained criminal would have known better than to open the door when all your crew was inside. Saras had mediocre training, a massive headache and was utterly exhausted besides that. He opened the door.

Jin was surprised to see noone looking at him as he held out a veritable bush of autumn flowers. He gazed down at a smaller, younger fox who looked like he'd had enough sake to lay waste to an army.

"Who are you?" Jin asked tensely. Was this a trick? Were the Wu sisters all illusions? Had he been dreaming? Was he dreaming now?

Saras blinked up at the fox. "Er..." He yawned widely, his eyelids drooping. He collapsed on his back.

Wan walked in.

"Jin!"

"Wan!"

Disregarding the teapot and flowers they were holding, the two made to embrace each other-each imagining slow romantic music in the background. Jin forgot about the younger fox, and tripped. He managed to stay on his feet, until the tea caught him on the shoulder and he screamed in pain, then he lost balance and teetered forwards.

Wan had also crossed most of the room, until a bush of flowers flew into her face, blinding her. Wan teetered forwards.

The happy couple's heads connected mid-fall with a loud crash. Both fell on their rumps, stars flying around their eyes.

Su and Wing emerged as well, the former was expressionless, the other was searching for any sign of Lang.

Saras had also woken up again from Jin's girlish scream.

"Oh my, you have a bump on your forehead!"

"You do too!"

"I bet they're matching!"

"Awww! Were the flowers for me?"

"Yes."

"Awww, Jin! The tea was for you too!"

"Awww!"

Saras gave Su and Wing his most puzzled look ever.

"You'll get used to it." Su responded.

"No." Wing shook her head. "You really don't."

Saras nodded tiredly and slumped back to sleep on the floor.

"So are you ready for today?"

"Of course!" Wan turned to her sisters, apparently unaware of their discomfort. "I'll be back later tonight. Don't kill the fox while I'm gone. Bye guys!" Paw in paw, matching bumps on their foreheads, the two assassins skipped off.

"Honestly Su, I'm _never_ going to get used to those two."

"Just be glad they can't breed."

"They could adopt a kid?" Saras suggested mid-yawn. Wing snatched him by the front and raised him into the air.

"Suggest that in earshot of either of them and you'll be begging for death before I'm done with you!"

* * *

"Konichiwa Lang-san. I brought you...well I guess it's breakfast." The wolverine held out a bowl of soup which the wolf took gladly.

"How are the others?" He asked non-chalantly. In truth he was already going mad from lack of noise. The silence was deadly dull.

"Well Denko-san's asleep. Reidak-san's meditating. Jin-san went to town and I think Hei Zei-san followed him-"

Lang spat out a mouthfull of soup and sat up suddenly with a loud cry of 'WHAT?!'

Han Guan wiped the soup from his face. "Yes. That's what I said." He said icily.

Wasn't Jin going to do something with Wan today? "I need to go!" He threw himself to his feet.

"But it's your turn to guard the vault."

"I need the toilet!" Lang yelled behind his back as he sprinted away.

Han stared at the unfinished bowl of soup amd pushed it into some dark corner. "Must have been some bad soup."

* * *

 _Footnote: Let more confusion reign as the Grey Coincidence swims through the uncharted teritorry that is Jan? Win? Who cares? They're killers in love and about to be dragged further into confusion! Muahahahaha! I'm not sure whether this qualifies as a romcom, but genre doesn't matter! Laughter does! So laugh people laugh!_

 _And Reidak's story was pretty cool, thank you Master Fearless Shadow! You know he's always felt like a meh character before now. I mean in the original Heist he was dumb muscle. In the original House of Tamod he was...less dumb more muscle? I dunno, he just felt too backgroundey. But NO MORE! He has a purpose now! And a cooler back story! Oh yeah!_

 _Personally I don't feel like giving more details of Han's story out here-I mean I've written it multiple times already. I trust long time readers will know it and newer ones now have an excuse to read more stories XD_

 _Epiphany: If my stories were an actual book series it'd be a bit of a mess with my backwards/forwards writing. Like is this a prequel to Journey to Japan or the original?_

 _Also I just noticed the chapter titles... I swear it's a (grey) coincidence that they all follow the same scheme._

 _Update soon._


	12. Preparing For Chaos

Lang pounded the door of the mansion like a madman.

Saras had finally managed to rest normally when a vicious pounding came from the doorway. He got up, muttering dark, ineligible words under his breath.

The door swung open and Lang, not noticing the much smaller mammal, barged past bellowing ' _JIN_!'.

In retaliation to what he thought was an attack, Saras snapped his mouth over the lupine's tail. Lang holerred from the pain and felt stupid. Of course the Wu sisters would booby-trap the place with- he turned to see a little fox. He screamed louder than before and leapt backwards.

"JIN YOU IDIOT! YOU WENT AND MADE A BABY!"

Su Wu's eyebrows almost flew off her face. Had everyone gone mad? What was Lang doing here? And what was Kanbujian attacking him for?

"Wait." Wing advised. "I want to see this."

Then Lang spotted them and ran over. "This is an emergency!"

"I am not pulling him off your tail!" Wing snapped instinctively.

"Hei Zei's following Jin! And if he sees Jin and Wan together he's going to loose it! Did they leave, or are they here?"

"They left." Su snapped into action mode. "Wan said something about Waterfall Into Bed, some fancy romantic restaurant. We need to get to them before Hei Zei." It felt odd, thinking of the raccoon after so many years. They had been close... Once.

"Right! Let's go!" Lang was clearly in a panic.

"I never thought I'd see the day you came running to us for help." Wing said loudly.

Lang growled, and acted like himself again. Pulling Saras off of him and tossing him across the room. "I don't need your help. I just needed to know where they were."

"Yeah sure. You needed our help."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Bickering all the way the three raced off in the direction of the restaurant.

* * *

Hei Zei bought an apple and sat at the riverside. Chewing on it he felt somewhat lost. Jin had vanished, which confirmed that he was hiding something. The racoon didn't know whether that was a good thing. On one paw he was right. But that didn't really make him feel better.

After he had left the volcano, bounty hunting had not gone well for him. The Imperial Army had no need for one third of the Brotherhood. He had brought in some rogues, but none of them had really made much of an impact in his career. And the Masters Council took so much credit in beating the Wus that it seemed everyone had forgotten who had imprisoned them in the first place. He had quit after bringing in a trio of young assassins who called themselves the Wo Brothers. The sniggering had followed him all the way out the camp.

He had taken up wandering through China and thinking of the meaning of life. But that didn't pay for food. The worst part was when he had been forced to steal to eat. For a while this was a good life, until the nostalgia of the Thieves Guild had caught up with him.

Finally when he met up with Lang his life took a turn up again. Noone could snigger when they brought the Shadow Bandits to justice (though maybe if they learned _how_ they would have) and after a few months they were back in business. That was when the rumours had creeped in. Jin the Assassin. Described as tall, over-the top and deadly from a range.

Lang had dismissed the idea that it was their former colleague, and Hei Zei had agreed... Only not entirely. Was he right about that too?

A growl from his stomach told him that he'd need more breakfast, and spying a nearby restaurant he threw the applecore into the river and strolled towards it, trying very hard to push thoughts of Jin to the back of his mind.

* * *

Chibiki hated 'Waterfall Into Bed'. The sickly sweet perfume made him cough, and the music set his teeth on end. But Buruto liked it and it had been the gorilla's turn to choose a place to eat. The black bear wished dearly that he had gone to check on Sutoaraiki instead of Izumi. That bobtail hated the place as much as he did, but she had found an excuse to ditch them and he hadn't. His paws tightened into fists. Life really wasn't fair.

"Will you be ordering anything?" Another reason he disliked the place was that it was technically speaking, 'couples lonely' and he really didn't appreciate the looks he and Buruto were recieving. One old man even had the audacity to stand up and clap for them.

"Yes. Something cheap and something I can eat quickly." He growled.

The waiter nodded. "It's proper policy to tell you that we offer wedding receptions, music, bouquets-"

Chibiki dragged the waiter to eye-level. "Shut up and get the food."

"Y-yes sir." Disgruntled, the waiter walked off.

* * *

"Go away!" Saras moaned as the door was rapped smartly once more. Wondering how to disembowel the postal service, he opened the door.

"Well hello, sugar-sama." The bobtail was leaning against the doorway in a seductive pose.

Saras closed the door on her face and decided to go back to sleep, yawning widely.

* * *

Izumi scowled and shot a glare at the hornet. "Great plan Sutoaraki! Seduce him, you said. It would be easy, you said. Can I just kill him for Amaterasu's sake!?"

"No! We need to know what he's up to!" The hornet hissed. "And those other three are proffesionals."

Izumi scowled further. "I swear this should be Chibiki's job! I'm a killer, _not_ a prostitute!"

"It's not like I'd be any better!"

* * *

The knocking continued. Growling in frustration Saras opened the door.

"Well hello, sugar-sama." Sutoaraiki sounded utterly deadpan.

What the hell was in that tea? Saras slammed the door shut on his face.

* * *

"I've seen rocks more seductive than you!" Izumi barked, shooting a badly-aimed knife at the hornet, who only just dodged.

"Were they tanuki statues by any chance?" The next knife barely missed.

"I swear, if you let me go at him he'll be begging in an hour!"

"And if you turn him into a tablecloth the other three will be out to get you. No, we're gathering information Izumi."

"Don't you have a truth serum or something?" The bobtail snapped.

"Now there's an idea! I have this for slow-minded-ness and this for wakefulness. If he's not thinking straight he'll sing like a drunk bird! I'm brilliant! Only... It has to be ingested."

* * *

"Wow! This place is so beautiful!"

"The food is the best. They make these little heart-shaped rice-dumplings."

"Aw I'll think of you every time I eat them!"

"Aw, I already do that!"

The restaurant was actually very beautiful. The chairs were piles of fluffy pillows, the tables were made of dried palm-sugar, and was perfectly edible. In the center of it was a wonderful fountain shaped like the nine-tailed-fox Amaterasu, cherry syrup flowing from each of her tail tips. The whole place smelled of romance-cherry blossoms and sugar- and candles shined behind red lanterns, giving the whole place the aura of a sunrise.

"Can you actually eat a table?" Wan asked, her claw dancing elegantly on the tabletop.

"Bits of it. If you eat the whole table you get to carve your names into the wall."

"But we can do that anyways." Wan giggled.

Jin nodded ferverently. "I already did." He pointed at the wall. Inside a clumsily-drawn heart were the names Wan and Jin. "I had to break in at midnight to do it." He neglected to mention that this was after he had failed to eat an entire table.

"You broke into a restaurant for me?"

"I'd break into a castle for you!"

"The next time I break into someplace, I'm going to carve our names into the wall!"

"Aw! I love you so much!"

"Me too!"

Then the whole restaurant echoed them with a big 'D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAW'.

* * *

Except for Chibiki. He gagged. When I become a warlord, the first thing I'm going to do is burn this place to the ground. He needed to step outside for a while. "Excuse me Buruto-san." The black bear stood up and walked out the restaurant. On his way out he spotted a raccoon, heavily bandaged, arguing with one of the restaurant's workers.

* * *

"What do you mean it's couples only?" Hei Zei snapped, his arms crossed over his chest in anger.

"I mean that we don't serve singles." The bored worker explained.

"And what if I'm expecting someone to join me?"

"Wait outside." The person replied in the same bored voice.

Hei Zei growled and turned to leave. He stalked off to the river bank, hissing at his bad luck. Everyone in Japan it seemed, was an idiot.

To stop his mind running back to the Jin predicament he tossed a coin at the bear.

"Yuan for your thoughts."

The bear caught it and growled. "You know when you get a simple job, like digging a hole, and then you realize that you're trying to break a boulder with your shovel, you're sinking in quicksand and you're digging in the wrong place, anyways." He threw the coin into the river with a lot of force. "What about you?"

"Well, you know when you haven't seen someone in a long time and then you meet up all of a sudden and you realize things can never be the same again, you're just left feeling... Awkward." Hei Zei sighed. "Life's not fair, is it?"

"No. It's not."

* * *

The knocking was back with a vengeance. Growling, Sara's hopped to his feet, walked to the kitchen and picked up the heaviest wok he could find. He padded back to the door, threw it open and brought the wok down at the bobtail standing there.

Izumi dodged the violent swing. Snarling she drew three knives and slashed wildly. To her surprise the fox blocked with the wok (in truth the heavy metal had slipped from his grip), and caught all three blades. Clearly this fox knew what he was doing!

Spinning around she caught the side of his head with a roundhouse kick, laying the vulpine flat onto the ground.

Sutoaraiki buzzed up to his comrade, a phial held in his arms.

* * *

"He's not here." Su said, frowning from the window. "Though Jin and Wan sure look like they're having fun."

"No surprises there." Wing said, her eyes sealed shut.

"Well that's a relief." Lang breathed deeply. Then growled. "Now I don't have to spend time with you anymore."

"Like we came running to your mansion!" Wing snapped.

Then the window opened, and a rabbit dressed as a geisha beamed at them, and motioned for them to enter.

"Let's get out of here." The three said in unison.

* * *

 _Footnote: It's funny how the original Heist wasn't even a comedy, but 'Humour' fits the bill of this fic better than anything XD And if you thought this was funny-just wait till the next chapter MUAHAHAHAHA!_

 _Also I'm not explaining Sutoaraiki's tanuki joke here-or anywhere else. I assume you can figure that out. :)_

 _Enjoy_


	13. D'aw, Gags and the Brotherhood

"You look ridiculous." Lang said, chortling. The three had not gotten far before the geisha bunny had apprehended them and practically dragged the three back into the restaurant, chattering in constant Japanese none of them understood in the slightest. Then they had set upon Su and Wing with avengeance.

The result was a pair of white-faced, red-cheeked, grinning assassins with elaborate hats placed over their ears. Lang had also donned a hat, purely to keep out of sight of Jin.

"I really wish I could stop smiling right now. I'd look even stupider if I started tearing your guts out." Wing growled.

Lang laughed harder and pounded the table with his fist.

"At least Wan is safe." Su mumbled, while Wing kicked the lupine from under the table.

* * *

Hei Zei's stomach growled loudly. The raccoon turned to the restaurant once more. Nobody said 'no' to him and got away with it.

"I told you it's couples-" The raccoon's fist cut short the repeated phrase, and a moment later he walked in as if nothing had happened.

Chibiki chuckled. He had wanted that to happen for years.

* * *

"I think you look beautiful!" Jin exclaimed loudly after Wan's own Geisha makeover was complete. Considering her smile wasn't fake and that it hadn't taken three rabbits attacking her face to do it, the fox's statement wasn't too far from the truth.

"Aw, thank you Jin! I think you're very beautiful too!"

"I think you're always beautiful!"

"Me too!"

"D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAW!" Chorused the restaurant.

Except Hei Zei, he gagged. Then spotted Jin and let his jaw drop and his eyes widen.

Jin spotted him too, and suddenly seemed flustered. "H-Hei Zei. W-what are you doing here?" His paw scampered wildly and sent a poor teacup off of the table.

Wan spun around as well. Her eyes wide with fear. Everything had been going perfectly...

The raccoon barely registered her. "J-Jin I was j-just-" _Following you like a suspicious parent. You have a girlfriend. Of course you have a girlfriend. You were just hiding her from me._ The raccoon glanced briefly at the disguised Wan. She looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place her. "Do I know you?" His eyes narrowed at her. He did know her.

Wan took the first idea she could think of. "Hugefangfang chingchong changchang guan Jin-sama ha?"

Hei Zei blinked. A Japanese girl. Who didn't understand what was going on. No wonder she looked slightly frightened. He sighed deeply, dragged his paws over his face and looked Jin right in the eye. "Look Jin. I'm sorry. I figured you were hiding something from me and I got worried. Really worried. I thought you were a-" _Killer. I thought Jin was a killer. How am I the smart one?_ "I thought you were doing something... I thought... I thought you were a killer Jin. I'm sorry I doubted you. It's just th-that- can you just forgive me?" _I really suck at apologies. This one is way too soppy._

Jin felt guilt tear at his heart. _Here I am, lying to my brother. Well... What he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?_ "Of course I forgive you!"

"D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!" Chorused the restaurant.

* * *

Except Chibiki. He gagged as he marched towards his and Buruto's table. He hated Waterfall Into Bed, and one day, he was going to tear the stupid romantic restaurant apart.

* * *

Inwardly, Hei Zei breathed a sigh of relief. His suspicions were false, thankfully. Jin had just not wanted to get him involved in romantic and personal affairs. That was perfectly understandable. "Well... I'll just-" he pointed a claw at the door indicating that he was about to leave-when he caught sight of Lang laughing at two grinning girls. "Lang!?"

* * *

Chibiki ate the stupid heart-shaped sushis, chewing hungrily at them. Where was Sutoaraiki? Where was Izumi? Surely the shapeshifter wasn't capable of taking them both on. Why if the raven hadn't been there he'd have crushed the little thing into dust!

* * *

Lang's laughter died in his throat, and he spun around to face Hei Zei.

"Lang?" Jin asked confused.

"Su?" Wan asked, before adding. "Wingchanglangaifeichangkukukelou!"

"Su?" Hei Zei asked. "Su... Su..." He let the name roll off his tongue before looking directly at Su. "Su Wu?"

All were silently watching the little raccoon as his paws clenched into fists that shook with anger.

"This is not what it looks like." Lang started, but the wolf shut up at one look from Hei Zei.

Then Su had a great idea. "Chincha gua fen hug?" She said, looking at Wing.

"Figugugu guatamela!" Wing said instinctively, nodding her head ferociously.

Hei Zei blinked. What the hell was going on?

"Su means 'I love you' in Japanese!" Jin screamed the words the second his mind conjured them up.

"D'AAAAAAWWWWW!" The restaurant echoed, clearly believing that Jin was confessing his love to Hei Zei. One old man even had the audacity to stand up and clap.

* * *

Chibiki gagged. He needed to get out of here! "Buruto finish eating now! I'm going to be sick if this place 'd'aws' one more time!"

* * *

"I-it does?" Hei Zei wondered aloud.

"It does!" Jin insisted. Then gave a loud (forced) laugh. "Su Wu? In Japan? Honestly Zei-that's just ridiculous!"

Lang joined in, as did the three japanese girls. Laughing uproariously, so that soon the entire place was laughing their heads off. Except Hei Zei, the little raccoon was torn between feeling stupid and hating the Wu sisters, who were standing in front of him... Or were they? They certainly looked like the Wus, except the make up. Wing at least would never have put on that Geisha outfit. And Lang? Lang had nothing to do with the Wus. He hated them almost as much as he did. But it made sense. Jin had been with Wan and Wan had escaped. Lang had been with Wing and Wing had escaped. Had they truly escaped? Or was there more? Jin had always liked Wan more than he should have...

"It was an honest mistake Zei." Jin said with a casual smile. _Please, just leave it at that. Don't dig deeper. Please!_

 _Was that smile lying to him? Jin wasn't a good liar. Or was he? He was lying. He was definetly lying. No he's not! Stop being so darn suspicious!_ "Right. Just to clear this up. I'll count to three. At the end of it, both of you tell me her name."

Jin and Lang traded one, brief, petrified glance, which Hei Zei did not miss. The raccoon's paws curled into fists once more.

"One." He said, hoping they would stop looking so tensed. It did not ease his suspicions.

 _Yin sounds nice._ Thought Lang. _I'll say Yin._

"Two." Why were they still so rigid?

 _Mei Li is the most common girl name ever._ Jin thought. _Lang should say that too!_

"Three." Hei Zei finished with a low growl as beads of blood dripped from his paw as his claws dug into his own flesh. He had already figured it out.

At the same time both Jin and Lang said 'Mei Li' and 'Yin'.

Hei Zei growled deeper, his fists shaking. "You lying-"

"Yin!" Yelled Jin, backtracking wildly.

"Mei Li!" Lang said at the same time.

Hei Zei glared angrily. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't be beating you both bloody!"

"Mei Yin Li!" They both yelled in desperation.

"Fugaka gutree gumpa gaga!" Wan said dramatically, pretending to faint.

Hei Zei was boiling with rage, growling loudly as he raised his paws. Then suddenly the whole restaurant got between him and the others.

"BURUTO-SAMA HAS JUST EATEN AN ENTIRE TABLE! THE ENTIRE TABLE! THE ENTIRE TABLE!" Everyone rose up, clapping proudly. And the Wus and Lang and Jin disappeared from view.

* * *

"You hit him too hard you idiot." Sutoaraiki said scowling.

"He'll come round! And when he does we'll shove that down his throat!" Izumi snapped back, indicating the hornet's phial.

* * *

Buruto carved his name into the wall in a massive heart with the names Chibiki, Izumi and Sutoaraiki.

The black bear ignored the chatter and 'aws' of the company, already threatening to loose his breakfast.

* * *

If it wasn't for the bustling and cheering crowd, Hei Zei would probably never have come face to face with that heart. Chibiki, Buruto, Izumi and Sutoaraiki. The Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands.

He remembered the large, black bear and found him in the crowd, staring right back at him.

The recognition was instant.

* * *

Saras woke up. Two blurred figures were standing over him. "Am I in heaven?" He asked, dazed.

Izumi opened his mouth wide and Sutoaraiki let the liquid drop into the fox's open mouth.

"I told you he'd come back round." The bobtail said in a smug voice.

Something fell into his mouth and a moment later he swallowed it. It tastes like water, but it was clearly not water. Then a moment later he felt energy shoot through his body while his mind went numb.

* * *

Recognition painted the raccoon's bandaged face, and Chibiki knew the game was up. In a blindingly fast manouever he drew his katana and charged the smaller mammal. Hei Zei hopped into the air and out of the way of the blade, which skewered a table. The black bear recieved a pair of lightning fast kicks to the face, in return.

By now the customers were gasping in awe and shock as Hei Zei was flung across the space, landing in the fountain. Chibiki was upon him in moments and sliced the fountain apart, spraying cherry sauce everywhere. One of his swings sliced the smaller mammal at the chest, blood sprayed gruesomely from the gash. Hei Zei scrambled to his feet, tossing a teapot at the bear as he tried to put some distance between him and his opponent.

Unfortunately he ran into Buruto, who lifted him by the throat, squeezing tightly at the raccoon's windpipe. Desperately, his claws tapped at the ape's arms, but he could find no nerve point. The gorilla threw him to the ground. The air flew out of him and Chibiki was bringing his sword down when a crossbow bolt sent the attack off course.

"I don't think so!" Jin said, grinning as he pointed his other crossbow at Chibiki's head.

Dazed, Hei Zei watched as Wan sprung from out of nowhere, her roundhouse kick catching the ursine on the nose. Jin then flung his entire crossbow at the bear's nose.

"Aw! You hit him in the same place as me!"

"I aimed for the same place as you!"

"D'AAAAAAAAAW!" Said everyone.

Except Chibiki. He roared and drew his kusarigama, which he spun around his form with elite precision.

Buruto grabbed an entire table and hurled it at Jin and Wan, who, lost in the moment, wrapped one another in a deep hug, like two doomed lovers. The table exploded into splinters as Su and Wing tore through it with their vortex. The chunks of candy scattered across the restaurant like delicious rain. The two sisters split up to either side of Jin and Wan. Lang pounced into the group pose as well, holding up a stool he had acquired.

"Zei, are you okay?" Lang asked cautious.

Hei Zei grunted and stared at his chest. Blood had soaked away most of the bandages and the cloak as well. He tried to push himself to his feet, but the sudden pain dropped hinm back to the floor. "No..." He finally spat.

Jin looked stricked and Lang too looked pained, but above all Su noticed the compassionate glance Wan had sent at Jin. Loosing Hei Zei would destroy Jin and destroying Jin would destroy Wan. She had to help this... She tried very hard to hate the little mammal, but he looked so helpless, bleeding on the floor, even if he was glaring hatefully at her. It was hard to hold a grudge after ten years.

"I can fix him." She said, as nonchalantly as possible. She wondered how stupid she looked with her ridiculous forced smile.

"No... Not you..." Pitifully he tried to writhe away.

"I don't want to save you." She snapped, still grinning. Gods she hated those Geisha girls. "But you're imortant to my sister's boyfriend. I'm not doing it for you, or Jin. But for my little sister."

"D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"

He tried to complain more, but eventually relented with an _extremely_ stiff nod.

"Right Jin and I will take the bear. Lang, Wing just take your rage out on that ape and we're good to go."

* * *

 _Footnote: This chapter had multiple title options. 'Waterfall Into Bed' was one. 'A Confusing Crisis' was another. Though I think 'D'AAAAAAAW' sums it up best it couldn't beat 'D'aw, Gags and the Brotherhood'. Next chapter we see what happens with Sutoaraiki's 'truth serum', we get to see the Brotherhood work with the Sisters against another Brotherhood. The next chapter will be a big'un. Though I can't promise we'll see Han Guan, Reidak or Denko XD_


	14. Like Wu, Like Brotherhood

"I thought Lang was on watch." Denko said, as he approached Han Guan.

The wolverine sighed. "He was meant to be. But then I brought him some rubbish soup and he got ill. He's probably still squatting in the latrine." He then shrugged. "Still I started this mess, I should do my bit." He tried to puff out his chest, but as he stood, his foot landed in the bowl of soup and a moment later he was hopping around on one leg, removing the soup from his fur.

"Maybe you should take a break. Reidak's cooking if you're hungry." Just as the raven planned Han Guan thanked him and left like an overexcited puppy.

Then he drew the scroll he had won from Chibiki and the fox, and felt stupid for not consulting it earlier. His eyes darted to what he needed almost immediately, a cross over where the vault had to be and another cross just under the dungeons. That was definetly what he was looking for. He tucked the scroll away and put his plan into action.

* * *

Saras shot to his feet as if he had been struck by lightning. His nose was twitching madly as he sniffed his surroundings and began darting from one room corner to another.

"Okay genius, get him talking." Izumi said.

"Right. Fox, tell us your name." The hornet began.

"Saras Kanbujian Kanbu Shifty." He replied instantly, snatching up a teapot, throwing the lid open to discover it was empty. "Tea. Tea. Tea!" And a moment later he was darting towards the kitchen.

"Slow-mindedness, check." Izumi muttered.

"Why are you in Japan?"

"To take Xei. Xei in vault. I need Xei. And tea. Tea. Tea!" He poured far too much water into the pot, before slamming the lid on with enough force to break bones.

"Was addiction to tea a side-effect?"

Sutoaraiki ignored the bobtail. "What is Xei?"

"Jit Kun Crystal." The fox was now sending water splaahing everywhere as he strirred in the tea leaves.

"Where is Xei?" The hornet persisted, ducking under the water.

"Vault. Silver Fang vault. I think."

"And so you want to break in?"

"Yes yes yes." The fox said, dumping an unhealthy amount of honey into the remaining water.

"Who are you with?"

"Su, Wing and Wan Wu. Wu sisters. Assassins." Then he left the teapot on the fire and watched the steam rising eagerly.

"What do you know about the Silver Fang?"

"Guarded by lightning raven, Wan's boyfriend and two buddies. Only four guards."

Izumi and Sutoaraiki shared a grin. "I think we've heard enough."

"So can I kill him now?" Izumi asked.

"You can do that later. This info goes straight to Chibiki-sama."

"Fine." But for good measure she brought the wok down on his head with a loud clang.

* * *

Jin sidestepped the kusarigama as it sliced an entire table in half. Wan then sent one half of the sugar table at the bear, who then divided it further into two pieces that flew to either side of him. He didn't react quickly enough to Wan's downward claw slash and Jin's crossbow uppercut that caught him on the top and underside of his muzzle. The two lovers then lashed out in a pair of kicks to the cheat that made him slip over a puddle of cherry sauce.

"We hit him in the same spot."

"We weren't even aiming for the same spot."

Then they spoke in unison. "It must be destiny!"

"D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAW!" Chorused the crowd, who's heads were poking out from behind the counter.

Hei Zei gritted his teeth. "Do you ever get used to them?"

"No." Su responded flatly.

Wing threw a ferocious punch at the gorilla's chest. It would have hurt him a lot, had Lang's fist not gotten in the way while in the middle of his own swing.

"Why are you punching me?!" Lang howled as he waved his hurt fist in the air.

"Why is your fist in the way of my punch?!" Wing shot back as she mirrored his motion.

Buruto then sent them both flying across two sides of the restaurant with a double backhand.

* * *

"It's just a flesh wound." Su assured as she unwrapped the bandages around his chest.

"Excellent." Hei Zei hissed sarcastically.

"I could kill you right now." Su threatened.

"Go ahead then. You've tried a lot already."

Tempting though it was to finally put an end to her arch nemesis, Su ignored him. "Does anyone have any bandages?"

From over the counter came a volley of them.

* * *

"Let's hit him in the same place again!" Jin suggested, blocking a katana swing with the sides of his crossbow.

"Okay, sure. Where should we hit him?" Wan asked as she skipped over a low swing of the kusarigama.

"Nose?"

"Nah, he'll expect that."

"You know I understand Chinese, right!?" Chibiki yelled at them.

"Let's say something rude to him together!"

"Okay. Let's say 'No' to his face, really really loudly!"

The two assassins looked Chibiki right in the face with identical, evil grins. "NO!"

With a roar of rage Chibiki charged at them, swinging his weapons in a wide circle in front of him.

"How about, between the legs?" Wan said.

"Great idea!" Jin agreed.

Both ducked a weapon and kicked the bear between the legs. Chibiki let out a low moan.

"Nose?"

"Sure!" And then their fists were sending him reeling backwards as their attack connected with his nose.

* * *

Lang grabbed a chair and charged at Buruto. The gorilla's side was unprotected. He could take him out!

Wing grabbed a table and charged at Buruto. The gorilla's side was unprotected. She could take him out!

Buruto stepped backwards and let Wing's table connect with Lang's head, while Lang's stool crashed into Wing's chest.

"Why the fuck are you hitting me!? Wing yelled.

"You're hitting me!" Lang shot back, before Buruto slammed their heads together and sent them sprawling across to opposite sides of the restaurant.

* * *

"It's too tight!" Hei Zei seethed as Su tightened the bandage around his chest.

"Quit complaining." Su barked, tying the bandage into a (very tight) knot.

* * *

Chibiki got up and swung, ignoring both the pain on his nose and the throbbing between his legs.

Jin and Wan ducked under the violent swing, and together punched the bear on the muzzle.

* * *

 _Wing is clearly trying to kill me._ Lang thought. _I'll have to take her out first._ So he grabbed a sun-brella.

 _Lang is clearly trying to kill me._ Wing thought. _I'll have to take him out first._ So she snatched up a vase.

Lang charged at Wing. Wing charged at Lang. They swung wildly.

Buruto never saw the attacks coming until the vase and the sun-brella connected with the sides of his head.

 _He tried to hit me._ Wing snarled.

 _She tried to hit me._ Lang growled.

Buruto stumbled to his feet, only for the umbrella to land on his knee and the vase to crash open against his skull. The gorilla fell to the floor, dazed.

* * *

Chibiki stumbled to his feet, but was soon floored once again by the unbeatable romantics.

"Let's throw him into the cherry fountain!" Wan said.

"Good idea." Jin exclaimed.

As Chibiki rose the two gave him a hard shove, right into the cherry fountain.

"We did it Wan!"

"Together!"

The two hugged while the whole restaurant went "D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"

Except Hei Zei, Wing, Lang and Su, they all gagged.

The raccoon climbed roughly to his feet, propping himself against a stool, he fixed Su with a deep glare. "This changes nothing!" He growled, ignoring the pain on his chest.

Jim's face darkened. "Zei, I'm warning you. Don't go somewhere where you can't come back out from."

The raccoon opened his mouth to reply, when the door burst open and in burst a very happy-looking Izumi and Sutoaraiki. They looked a lot less happy a second later, when they both had time to take everything in.

* * *

The smell of spices sizzling over a low fire made Han Guan's mouth water as he made for the kitchen. Evidently the giant tofu had not been a large enough breakfast. He walked into the kitchens, and nearly bumped into a closet. It was pitch black, save for the small glow at the end of the room.

"Er Reidak-sama? It's pretty dark in here. You could use a torch or two." He extended his paws in front of him, waving them forwards in an attempt to not bump into anything.

It was going well until he slipped on a stray chopstick. Then with a loud yell Han tumbled back, hit a pile of trays and sent them crashing everywhere. He got to his feet, only to trip on a tray and crash facefirst, into something else.

Reidak watched as Han Guan single-handedly wrecked the entire kitchen, before lighting a torch and walking over to the dazed wolverine, lighting up the room as he went.

"Are you okay?" The tiger asked.

In response the wolverine gave a sharp tug and withdrew an entire chopstick from his nose. "What on earth were you doing? Trying to burn the place down?"

"Han, what do I need light for?" Reidak asked, deadpan.

"To se-you aren't the only person who uses the kitchen!" Han snapped defensively, as he climbed to his feet and tried to pull his backside out of a wok.

"I'm the only one that cooks." The tiger replied calmly. Then he heard a soft click. One that only his empowered senses would have sensed. A strong kick freed Han's posterior, and then he handed the wolverine the torch.

"Thanks Reidak-sama. Hey, can I try the soup?"

"Go ahead." Reidak called back as he crossed through the mess of cuttlery and plates. The door was shut and after a single movement Reidak's worst suspicions were confirmed.

"We're locked in."

* * *

 _Footnote: Happy New Year! Just under six hours left here. Two cliffhangers in one chapter (muahahahaha) as we approach the climax of this fic. Let the action continue._

 _I am really glad I did this remake especially. The Feral Islands was improved by a little as there wasn't much to fix anyways. This though... Where do I begin? I'm not going to even mention word count (okay I am, there's twice as many here as there are there)..._

 _One major improvement is my writing. Yeah I still have typos, but on the whole it has improved vastly, there's also the way I can keep your attention without a lot of major fight scenes. I mean there was the Waterfall fight for the plans, but on the whole most of this is character interaction, and in that aspect I have improved greatly as well.. Another improvement are the characters. I've already discussed Han Guan and Saras, so here's a bit about the others._

 _Denko is a new character who adds a bit of mystery to the story and adds to the 'who to root for' conundurum. On the one hand his intentions are good, but not good for Han Guan and the Silver Fang. This story serves as an introduction to him and he adds to the very mystical Japan in a good way. On another note why is Japan so mystical XD?_

 _Reidak in the previous version was a Deux Ex Machina, almost invincible kung fu guy who spoke like zero lines I remember. If any. He's a bit more fleshed out now and a fuller person. He also serves as a foil to Han Guan's sheer dumbness. The cooking gag was from Master Fearless Shadow._

 _Now I think the best 'Character' improvement is undoubtedly the Zei Brotherhood and the Wu Sisters new dynamic. Win really is the best thing this story could have hoped for. The whole dynamic between the Brotherhood and the Sisters is so much more than a repeating revenge cycle now. And it's just plain hilarious, I'm sure you'll agree XD_

 _That's all for now-but more is coming! Update soon._


	15. Impending Doom

"Locked in? What do you mean 'locked in'?" Han Guan asked, swallowing a large portion of soup.

"I mean the door is locked." Reidak replied in an annoyed voice. The tiger kicked the door with all his strength, it shuddered wildly, but would not loosen.

"How did we get locked in?"

Reidak kicked again. "We're gonna find out soon enough."

* * *

Izumi started the attack with a massive volley of knives. Hei Zei flattened himself against the floor while three knives flew past him. Su threw herself to the side to avoid the same blades. Jin reloaded his crossbow and shot it at Sutoaraiki, who received a glancing blow that knocked him out of the air and onto the floor, dazed.

At the same moment a thoroughly pissed off Chibiki got to his feet and swung at Wan's unprotected back. Su spotted the danger and blocked the katana with her claws, but was subsequently kicked in the stomach and sent sprawling to her back. At the same time Buruto rose to his feet, and smacked Wing and Lang away from him.

Izumi dove for Hei Zei, jabbing her long dagger at the raccoon's chest, who grabbed a stool, the blade sunk deep into the wood, and hung there, just an inch away from his chest. The sharpened metal froze in place, as the two struggled wildly. Acting swiftly, the raccoon kicked at the bobtail, before throwing aside the stool and dagger and jabbing forwards with a nerve attack.

Izumi was too quick and sent a knife at his chest, which Su kicked away.

"I don't need your help." The raccoon growled.

"You're welcome." Su responded, avoiding another knife only narrowly.

Jin blocked the bear's subsequent sword strike with his crossbow, while Wan's claws sent the kusarigama spiralling into a vase, which subsequently shattered into a thousand pieces.

"He's really not happy, is he?" Jin asked, as Chibiki tore a table in half.

"He probably doesn't like cherries." Wan suggested as she dealt a vicious kick to the black bear's nose.

"Hmmm, I like cherries." Jin sent a bolt at the ursine, who was then forced to block.

"I love cherries!" Wan said, dipping a claw into the remains of the cherry fountain to taste the sugary substance.

"Then I love them too!" Jin exclaimed, throwing an entire paw into the once-glorious spewer of sweet cherry sauce.

"Aw, we love the same thing!"

"D'AAAAAAAAAAAAW!"

"D'aw one more time and I'll rip your guts out and hang you with them!" Chibiki roared.

"BOOOOOOOOOOO!" Yelled the crowd, who then ducked back under the counter as his kusarigama buried itself into the wall.

Unfortunately, while he was busy venting his anger he failed to see Jin and Wan's attack.

Until it hit him between the legs that is-it was pretty hard to miss afterwards, when their fists suddenly came for his nose and sent him sprawling to the floor.

* * *

Izumi threw a knife each. Su flipped away from it, while Hei Zei caught it in the flat of his paws and shot it right back at the bobtail. Izumi deflected the blade and darted forwards, slashing at the raccoon. Before Hei Zei could react, Su flew into his opponent's side. To her surprise, he punched her head.

Instinctively, Su lashed out, and kicked the smaller mammal across the face. The two were snarling, growling. From the corner of her eye Su caught sight of Wan and Jin, fighting side by side. That moment of distraction allowed Hei Zei's paw to crash into her chest, and pin her completely.

As she fell flat on her back, all Su could see was the roof in front of her. Hei Zei...you bloody bastard.

* * *

Lang charged forwards, swinging the sun-brella. Buruto ducked, and the wolf's makeshift weapon struck Wing clear across the face. Buruto rose up and slapped the wolf, before ducking once more and letting Wing's fist hit the wolf across the muzzle. Acting quickly, Buruto rose up and violently back-handed Wing, before stepping backwards and bringing their heads together.

"I'm really sorry about this guys. But I have to listen to the others." The gorilla explained, before slamming both down onto the floor.

* * *

Denko let his lower beak fall open at the sight. Crates and barrels of black powder heaped the cavern under the dungeons. Enough powder to blow up the whole estate. This was ridiculous. Preposterous. What lunatic would do something like this?

* * *

Hoku smiled widely at the perplexed face of his cousin. "Cousin Tohru-sama!" He said, waving at the silver fox.

Lord Tohru was an impressive sight to behold. Bright silver fur and black ears, with flowing robes of dark blue trimmed with silver. If it weren't for the white streaks on his fur he could have been mistaken for a warlord, what with the Silver Fang itself hanging at his side.

Behind him Lord Takeshi and several Iron Tail warriors were looking wearily at the guards that flanked Hoku. Master Masuta was there too, and little Ginka, staring at his second cousin. And Takeshi's son as well, whatever his name was.

"Hoku-kun. What are you doing here?" Tohru asked, recovering from his surprise. "The palace, you were left in charge."

"It is in good paws, cousin, worry not. Takeshi-dono, are you well?"

Master Masuta was an old, giant salamander. And with age came experience. He did not miss the snorts of laughter that passed through the ranks of guards.

"Who did you leave in charge, Hoku-san?" He asked pointedly.

The moment was tense as Hoku paused. Then one guard burst into laughter, and soon the rest were chuckling.

"Han Guan." Hoku admitted. Even Lord Takeshi snorted. Master Masuta's eyes narrowed, Ginka raised an eyebrow. And Tohru dragged his paw over his face and muzzle. "What on earth were you thinking?"

"I believe that he has proven himself-" He was silenced by a glare.

"My apologies, Takeshi-dono. I have urgent business to attend to."

"No problem at all." The tanuki said, waving his paw at the excuse. "I understand your, um, problem."

Hoku frowned deeply. "Tohru-sama, allow me to make up for my mistake. I can return to the Silver Fang immediately-"

" _I_ am returning immediately." Tohru shot back.

Tohru didn't have anything against Han Guan, the wolverine was a bit clumsy and not the brightest, but he meant well. His cousin though? His cousin hated him, of that he was certain. And if he had left Han Guan in charge... He was planning something. It could be dangerous...

"Takeshi-sama, may I burden you with my son for a short while?"

"Certainly." The tanuki said good-naturedly.

Then Tohru made a signal with his paw, and they made their way towards the Silver Fang, the guards forming around them.

Masuta lingered behind and watched as Ginka and Yojin rolled across the floor, laughing like the little children they were. Then he fixed Hoku with a stern, penetrating gaze. The fox looked disappointed. "Is something wrong?"

"No." The fox replied, so tensely it was obvious he was lying.

* * *

Denko shrugged. He only needed a little bit of the powder. Then he was struck with a brilliant idea. "This place is about to blow."

* * *

Hei Zei aimed a sweeping kick at the bobtail's feet, which Izumi skipped over, before kicking the raccoon in the face. Hei Zei ignored the blow, then twisted his head away from a thrown knife. Izumi landed on her feet and swung at his stomach. He pounced backwards, snatched up a stool and hurled it at her. Izumi sent the stool flying away, but was unprepared for the mammal's fly-kick as it connected with her chest.

Izumi fell on her back, before rolling to her feet and hurling five knives at him. Hei Zei threw himself behind an upturned table, letting the knives sink in with a dull thud each.

Izumi was upon him just as he began to rise, nailing him in the face and barging him against a table. He placed a paw on the furniture to get up, when Izumi slammed her dagger through his paw and into the table. Before he could react Izumi's fist collided with the side of his head, and he was in a daze.

* * *

Jin and Wan floored the bear, dropping him flat on his back before bringing their feet down on the bear's stomach, they then high-fived over his body.

"We did it!" They exclaimed.

Two darts then crashed into their shoulders, and a moment later, the two fell on their backs. Out for the count.

"Chibiki-sama, we have discovered many things. The Silver Fang is currently only guarded by Han Guan and the lightning raven. If we attack now, we can get into the vault before noon!" Sutoaraiki announced with a malevolent grin.

Chibiki sat up. "Finally, some good news." The bear got up, wrenched a candle from a table and hurled it behind the counter, watching with some satisfaction as the flame glowed brighter and brighter. He tore the kusarigama free from the wall, barely giving a thought to where the crowd had dissappeared.

"It's time to go." He announced, and the Brotherhood assembled behind him. They marched out the door, which Chibiki shut heavily, before ripping the handle off to lock them in for good.

Two birds with one stone. The cursed restaurant and those cursed snow leopards and those cursed palace guards. Soon all would be ashes, and the secret of the Silver Fang would be his!

* * *

 _Footnote: Ah... Poor Hoku, he reay hasn't thought it through entirely. Meanwhile Denko has acquired an entrance into the vaults, Han Guan and Reidak are still locked in the kitchens and Saras is still knocked out._

 _Things aren't going well for the (Zei) Brotherhood and Wu sisters-and the fire is something that I really look forwards to writing (gosh darn DRAMA!). But the Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands are going for the win. Several chapters left, we are approaching the climax! MUAHAHAHAHA_

 _Enjoy._


	16. Kung Food Fighting and Inumerable Knives

Denko smeared the wall with powder, before leaving a trail of it down the cavern. He lit the edge of the line and crept back into the shadows, his wings over where his ears were meant to be. There was no doubt in his mind that Reidak and Han would hear the explosion, but he had locked them in, and it would take a literal monster to burst down the hardwood.

"Come on Reidak!" Han cheered as the tiger lashed out for what was probably the hundredth time. The door shuddered once more, but still refused to open.

Reidak grunted. And lashed out once more, while the wolverine shouted more encouragement.

"What on earth do you make your doors from?" The tiger growled.

"Hardwood. You see the Silver Fang and the Iron Tail clan have been feuding for centuries. Almost every room in this palace is built to withstand a siege."

Reidak grunted again. "Almost every room?"

"Ah-hah."

* * *

The Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands walked right through the front doors of the estate. "Alright. Izumi, Buruto head below the dungeons, get to the powder and bring it to the vaults. Me and Sutoaraiki will secure the vault. If you meet any guards, kill them." Chibiki ordered, the bobtail scampered off, Buruto following at her heels.

* * *

"Damn this door!" Reidak yelled in frustration. "If only we had a damn key!"

Han suddenly blinked and gave a nervous chuckle. "If only we had a key, he-he, good one Reidak-san." The wolverine reached into his kimono and withdrew a large keyring with at least fifty keys attached.

Reidak looked livid. "You had that this entire time!?"

Han Guan gulped audibly. "To be fair this is my second day on the job. Usually someone more important has the keys.

"Just give it." Reidak growled. If it weren't for the fact that his paws and feet were sore he'd probably have been pummeling the smaller mammal.

Han Guan meekly handed him the large ring.

* * *

"Buruto-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Where the hell are the dungeons?!" Izumi snapped in anger. She really had been having a bad day. She hadn't had the time to kill the fox. She hadn't managed to kill the raccoon. No, Chibiki would get that honour, what with his burning of the restaurant. What a kill stealer!

"Well there's the kitchen-" The kitchen door suddenly burst open and crashed into Izumi's unprotected face. Out strolled a very grumpy-looking tiger with a red bandana over his eyes, followed closely by an embarassed-looking brown-furred wolverine.

Izumi slammed the door off of her face and glared daggers. Han Guan froze in terror. Reidak drew his batons and entered a stance.

"So you're the ones who locked us in?"

"Buruto, hold him off, I'll finish the scared one first, then I'll deal with the tiger."

"Han, you want to prove yourself to your clan?" Reidak asked, not taking his eyes off Izumi.

"I never told you about that." Han said, still frozen in fear.

"...It's pretty obvious."

"It is?" Han Guan asked.

"Well here's your chance, hold her off and you'll have proven yourself a mighty warrior."

"I will?" He asked, though with more confidence now.

Then without warning Izumi pounced at the wolverine and Reidak pounced at the gorilla.

* * *

The vault was empty and unguarded. Chibiki frowned. "Something's not right." He growled, sheathing his katana.

"You think?" Sutoaraiki asked, getting extremely close to the wall.

Chibiki stepped backwards, into a bowl of soup, the porcelain cracking under his foot. "It's a trap!" He yelled, throwing himself to the side.

In all fairness it wasn't a trap. Chibiki had come to that conclusion because of stepping into the bowl of soup. However, it was a dangerous place to be in.

"Chibiki-sama, I think this wall is covered in-" The powder, and the wall exploded.

* * *

Han Guan dashed behind the door, causing Izumi to miss her lunge. He then shut the door as swiftly as he could, slamming the door into her foot and paw.

"Youch! You bloody-" Han opened the door again, and kicked her square in the chest. Izumi stumbled backwards, but also threw three knives right at him. He slammed the door shut, letting them quiver in the hardwood. The wolverine opened the door again, only to be kicked in the gut and punched clear across the muzzle. Izumi next drew an even bigger knife and swung at the mustelid's head. Han's claws shot out a foot from his paw, parrying the metal as if with a sword. With his other paw he swung at the bobtail, who ducked just in time.

"What the hell happened to you?" Izumi exclaimed, as his elbow came crashing down, just narrowly missing her shoulder. She was unable, however, to avoid the knee that ploughed into her stomach.

"What do you mean?" He asked. As far as he was concerned, nothing had happened to him.

"You went from quivering in fear to fighting me? It's meant to be the other way around!" Han Guan sucked in his belly to avoid a powerful throw.

"Well, I guess all I needed was a pep talk," the wolverine shrugged, accidentally deflecting a pair of thrown knives with his long claws.

 _This one is so boring!_ "Buruto! SWAP!"

She stood there, tapping her foot on the floor in impatience.

"Um... What do you mea-" Han learned exactly what it meant as Buruto crashed through the hardwood door and slammed his fist into the wolverine's face.

Reidak would have blinked at the display of sheer power. But he didn't have eyes so the effect was redundant. He twirled his baton, deflecting three knives shot at him in rapid succession, before skipping over a leg sweep and kicking Izumi in the side of the face. The bobtail slid across the floor and rose, looking very, very insane.

"Just die already!" She yelled, charging forwards once more. She pounced into the air and shot a pair of knives at the tiger, who deflected them once again, before swinging his baton at her. Izumi parried and struck low, watching with some satisfaction as blood sprayed from his wound. Then she leapt into the air, and sent another volley. Reidak scattered the blades, but only just, and was forced to back away as Izumi continued attacking with wave after wave of knives.

* * *

Han Guan was not fairing much better, as Buruto flung him clear across the room. He landed with an almighty crash, in a massive pile of teacups. Next to him stood a long pile of plates. Seizing the opportunity, Han snatched up the plates with vigour.

"Haha! Take this Buruto-san!" He shot them one at a time in quick succession. The plates spun in the air like disks, before exploding into shards of china as Buruto seized a wok and smashed the volley to pieces. Then the great ape hurled the wok at the wolverine. The impact left a Han-Guan-face-shaped dent in the metal.

The mustelid pulled off the metal, only to be grabbed by the front of his clothing and lifted into the air.

"I'm really sorry about this." The ape insisted, before throwing him across the kitchen once more.

* * *

Reidak sent Izumi skidding across the grounds once more-this time from an almighty uppercut. The bobtail picked herself up rapidly, snarling in anger and charging forwards. Baton met dagger mid-swing, and steel rung as their weapons clashed once, twice, thrice, so fast that it seemed their limbs were a blur, and that each had twice the number of paws.

Izumi rolled around the larger feline and slashed wildly. In a cry of pain Reidak stumbled forwards. The back of his knee was in agony. He only just managed to block the next attack, but not the kick that came right after.

* * *

Han crashed into a pile of soya. He rose slowly and shakily to his feet, wondering just how much more he could take. Then his little black eyes caught sight of a large, fat cucumber. Buruto was coming towards him. Han feigned a stumble. Then raised one paw, his other clenched tightly to the cucumber, and hidden behind his back.

"W-wait. Buruto-san. I surrender."

Buruto raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

Han Guan nodded, and watched as the ape loosened his stance. Then he brought the cucumber around and smacked the simian clear across his face. Then repeatedly on the top of his head.

"Haha! You have fallen for my trap!" As Han brought the cucumber down onto the gorilla's head (it was a miracle in itself that he could reach that high), for the eighth time it snapped, and he was left clutching a small handle of cucumber. Buruto blinked, looking entirely unphased by the attack. Han dove under a swing, and shoved the cucumber forwards as a makeshift weapon. It ended up inserted in Buruto's nose.

Buruto blinked in more confusion, before sneezing the cucumber out. This bought Han Guan enough time to try and scramble away. Not enough, however to get out of reach. The gorilla caught him by the scruff and raised him up to eye level, like a parent would do to a mischievious cub.

"Let's see how much you like it, having something shoved somewhere where the sun doesn't shine!"

Han's eyes widened in fear. "N-no, please n-not that!" Buruto snatched up a handful of soya and shoved it up his mouth, watching with some satisfaction as the wolverine's cheeks bulged from the pressure of holding it in. He then threw Han further away.

The mustelid landed flat on his rump, spitting out chunks of soy like a repeating crossbow, before wiping his mouth with the back of his paw. "Well I suppose that was nicer than the alternative."

Buruto stopped. "What was the alternative?"

"...You don't want to know."

Buruto shrugged, then continued forwards.

* * *

Izumi jabbed forwards, Reidak swung with crippling force, sending her dagger far away from him and her paw. Then he swung his body forwards, ignoring the searing pain behind his knee as his head crashed into her own. Dazed, Izumi was unable to avoid the next swing which connected to her mouth. Izumi flew backwards and spat broken teeth and blood from her mouth, before fixing the tiger with a look of pure loathing.

Reidak was rising to his feet when she flew in with a feral scream, her knife raised for a killing blow. The larger feline gave her a strong kick with his good leg, before sending one of her own knives flying after her.

She only just deflected it.

* * *

Chibiki forgot all about Sutoaraiki and let his jaw hang open. It was beautiful. A thousand crystaline structures hung from the top of the vault, which was in fact a cave. The torch's light seemed small and unecessary. From each, exquisite gem there came an aura of heat and light. Like a thousand miniature suns. And in the center, glowing a bright blue, lay a gem that looked like nothing else here. Large-ish, triangular and beautiful. Chibiki approached, his paw outstretched, and took the gem in his paw. It was a pretty thing... But cold and dull and useless, the wonderful, sun-like gems were far more enticing. He dropped the blue gem and snapped one off, and felt something warm and fuzzy go through his arm. It felt soft... Chibiki bit it, to feel it's strength- and found he liked the taste. A taste of power.

Denko hadn't known what to expect. But gems certainly hadn't come to mind. Still, he knew what he had to do. He had to destroy this place, or else there would be no future for Japan. He drew his sword.

"Chibiki! Stand aside, for the good of our country. Or else I will have to destroy you along with this cave."

The bear turned, his eyes flashing gold once, twice, before remaining that way. "I don't think so." The bear spun his kusarigama and drew his own katana.

 _Well... That was an unexpected turn of events._

* * *

Saras came to, his head throbbing. He was dizzy, but not as tired as he had been. Somehow he had caught some sleep. And tea was ready? If he had been thinking properly he would have been wondering why someone had been cooking tea. But tired and head-hurting as he was, he took several, long, deep gulps. The cook had put way too much honey, but it was still a refreshing drink. He put the teapot down, before slumping against a wall with a deep, satisfied, sigh.

Then everything came crashing back as if he had just been whacked over the head with a wok.

"I need to tell that idiot wolf I'm not Jin's baby!" He yelled, finding he had no control over his own tongue. "Who is Jin? Forget Jin. I need to catch that bobtail and whack her over the head with a wok. And I need to rob the Silver Fang-and I have to do that now! Before the hornet gets his stupid darts all over my gem! Why am I so hyper? I don't know! It was probably that thing that insect gave me! Damn I hate insects! Okay, I don't- but I hate him! Focus Saras, focus. Get to the Silver Fang now and you can take them by ! Who need's the Wu sisters anyways?" He shot to his feet, snatched up the tea, finished it and cracked his knuckles. "Right. Time to rob a gem. And to stop saying my thoughts out loud. I swear my thoughts aren't this energetic!"

* * *

Han Guan landed on his face, the rest of his body falling to the floor after him. He climbed to his feet and sneezed madly. "Bloody pepper..." He mumbled, rubbing his poor nose-then a wonderfully villainous plot came to mind, and Han Guan grinned malevolently, rubbing his paws together like a devious mastermind.

Buruto approached slowly, impressed that the wolverine was still standing. The smaller mammal was tougher than he looked.

"Hey, Buruto-sama! I have something for you."

"Is it another cucumber?" The gorilla asked, stopping right in front of Han Guan, the size difference clearer than ever.

"Nope. It is the most deadly thing known to mammals everywhere. Shishito peppers!" With a diabolical laugh and a mighty leap Han Guan slammed a barrel of black pepper over the gorilla's head, hiding Buruto's head behind the small wooden box- one that was full to the brim with the hot pepper.

"IZUMI! HELP! IT BUR-" Came the ape's muffled yell-but Han Guan wasn't finished, and brought a nasu repeatedly into the simian's stomach.

* * *

 _I can't take much more..._ Reidak realized as he only just blocked a knife thrown at him. He was sore and in pain and bleeding and the bobtail had a seemingly unlimited supply of knives. Izumi's next one pinned Reidak through the shoulder and into the ground, making the tiger scream in pain.

"Finally, I get to take someone out! With you, I'm going to go nice and slow!" She drew a long knife and fingered it eagerly.

Her ear twitched in annoyance as Buruto's muffled yell came from the kitchens. "I'll be right back!" She snarled, drawing two more knives.

Reidak gritted his teeth and tugged the knife free of his shoulder. Hang in there Han, I'm coming. He tried to rise to his feet, but pain sent him flat on his back once more. _Or not..._

* * *

 _Footnote: A nasu is a japanese eggplant. Shishito peppers are real as well though I'm not quite sure how hot they actually are... Fights in kitchens are just so fun to write because of the veritable armada of makeshift weapons available to one and all (I didn't even need to use knives to make the fight cool!_

 _I think that Reidak and Han's fights are a clear indication of my entire writing style. I jump from funny to brutal REAL fast XD Though yall shouldn't be too worried. This fic is a fixup, I haven't made massive alterations to the effects this fic had to the rest of the series. Just improved it's inner workings._

 _As a guy who writes about... A large cast... It's hard to pick exactly whom I like writing about the most. I'd probably say Han Guan at this point, but that's only because his stupidity drives the whole plot XD_

 _I love hyper characters (Li I, Zorori, Han Guan) if you know me, you can probably tell why. In fact I'm hyper as I write this massive footnote. (Ironic that my main character is pretty passive... Though I plan to change that temporarily and am using Sutoaraiki's poison mixing as an excuse XD)._

 _Now the vaults play a key role in Silver Fang by Empressimperia. One problem I had back with the original was that I didn't know what was inside the vault... Well now I know. Though I made two alterations. One was making it non collapsible, the other was adding Xei (for the uninitiated there will be a bit about Xei coming up and some exposition on the cave... Though I'm not sure about the latter coz I don't wanna spoil Silver Fang to any future potential readers._

 _Next time we head back to Waterfall Into Bed to see what has befallen our other heroes! (And coz I need some drama now for flavour duh). That chapter is already 2000 words in by the way, but I can't promise when it will be posted, because I might be travelling tommorow (my life is complicated lol). Still I will try to get it up ASAP as Win doesn't deserve a cliffhanger XD_

 _Update soon!_

 _And I didn't type up this massive footnote just to bump the wordcount! It's just I like pointing things out._


	17. From One Burning Building To Another

Jin undid the nerve attack on Su, and Wan helped her up. Lang and Wing were slumped on the floor. The restaurant was bizzarely empty. The 'd'awing' crowd had vanished entirely, as had the Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands. Hei Zei wrenched the dagger free from his paw and the table.

"Is everyone o-" Jin started to ask, but was interrupted by the raccoon.

"How could you?" Hei Zei growled quietly. "After everything they did to us."

Jin's face turned pale, he had been hoping to have this conversation at a later date. He pointed a shaking paw at his former friend. "I... Moved on." Then his face darkened. "And you should too. That was years ago man, just let it go already."

"Let it go?" Hei Zei said quietly. "Let it go?" He repeated. Then he yelled it. _"Let it go!?"_ He tore his cloak off entirely, revealing a plethora of bandages around his chest, all the way up his arms and legs and a pitiful stump that had once been his tail.

 _He's got more than last time._ Su realized, as he tore off the bandages around his muzzle. Then ripped them off his arms and feet, and chest.

" _Look at me Jin!"_ Hei Zei bellowed, and the fox shuddered at the grizly sight. His muzzle was charred and blackened, his paws pink, and furless, and one of them dripping with blood.

"Hei Zei-"

"I got this," he pointed at his muzzle. "Falling into a volcano! I got these," he showed off his arms, pink and furless and gory. "Burning alive!"

Everyone was deathly silent as Su remembered the last time she had seen Hei Zei.

* * *

 _Su knew the terrain inside and out. She knew exactly where Zei had been standing when he taunted her...and she knew what was behind him. The two of them were now struggling less than a foot away from the edge of a cliff. And at the bottom of that cliff was a large pool of magma._

 _"Are you crazy?!" Zei aimed a kick at her side that she blocked by using her numb arm as a shield, and while Zei was realizing the downside of nerve attacks, she landed a punch to his face. Zei's head swung back and he caught a glimpse of the fiery death below, causing him to freeze up for a moment. Su used that distraction to kick his legs out from under him. As he fell to the ground, the raccoon dug his claws into the cliff top to stop himself from going over, but most of his upper body still hung over the edge._

 _Su grabbed him by the throat with her good arm and attempted to force him the rest of the way. "It's time for you to go back in the fire, Zei," she snarled hatefully. "And this time, you're not coming out!"_

 _Zei started to panic as he was pushed further and further over the edge. His phobia of fire showed clearly now on his terrified face. After a moment though, he managed to look back up at her and she saw that, despite the fear still evident on his face, he was smirking again. "Neither are you."_

 _He took one paw off of the cliff top and jabbed Su's other arm._

* * *

"You wouldn't have fallen down a volcano if you hadn't been obsessed with revenge!" Jin shot back, bringing Su back to reality.

Hei Zei was shaking madly. "You want me to _move on_? Look at me, and tell me whether or not I can!"

Jin reloaded his crossbow, and pointed it, his paw shaking as madly as Hei Zei, at the raccoon. "If you can't... Then I don't have a choice."

Hei Zei stopped shaking, he stopped doing anything. He stood there, gawping up at Jin with wide eyes.

"Fire." Said Lang, weakly.

Jin's paw was shaking harder. "N-no. I don't want to- I mean... If I have to-"

"No you idiot!" Wing shouted and pointed a finger at the counter. "Fire." Then her finger dropped and she and Lang went back to slumping.

All eyes turned to the blazing inferno, and wondered how they had all missed it. Hei Zei froze, his ears drooping in fear as he let out a pitiful whimper.

"We have to get out of here!" Su said, snapping into action mode. Wan placed her paw on Jin's shaking one.

"Noone is going anywhere!" Hei Zei snapped, glaring directly at Jin. "Not until we've settled this."

* * *

 _Hei Zei had just gotten to resting. He couldn't quite shake off Lang and Jin's playful teasing._

 _'How was your date?' Technically it hadn't been a date, he had merely needed to talk to Su about Wan... Before getting carried away and talking about other things... For three hours. And the rest of the Thieves Guild had plenty of rumours about them too. He tried to ignore them for the most part but had to admit that she was somewhat...attractive. That and their tactical minds were perfectly suited for each other._

 _Hei Zei shook his head and closed his eyes. He needed to rest._

 _He was awoken half an hour later, to the sound of screaming. Hei Zei shot up like a thunderbolt, searching for the source of the commotion._

 _The blazing inferno was hard to miss. A wall of flames tearing through the wood of the warehouse like a hungry giant. The wood and the members of the Thieves Guild. He saw them burning, screaming in pain. He saw more, racing everywhere, trying to find a way out. Su... He thought with worry, before snapping into action mode._

 _"The door!" He bellowed, scrambling for it himself. It seemed noone heard him, preoccupied as they were with screaming and running. The door. He had to get to the door. Open it. And get everyone out._

 _He raced through the chaos, coughing as smoke filled his lungs, sweating from the oppressive heat. The door was in sight. They were saved._

 _Hope flew out faster than a candle in a storm when he noticed someone had torn off the handle. Still, it was worth a try._

 _Hei Zei took a running start, and barged into the wood. It shook slightly, but failed to open even slightly. He pounded on it, desperate. "Help!" He yelled at the top of his voice, his paws thumping uselessly on the thick wood. Panic began to creep in and his thumping was wilder._

 _"HELP!" He screamed in terror, his paws already aching from the force of banging on the cruel wood. Someone outside would hear him. The fire was coming closer..._

 _"HEL-AIIIIIIII!" He screamed in pain and terror as his paw caught fire. He pounced backwards, trying to bat the flames away. His cries of help morphed into shrieks of pain, and then he stumbled backwards, his tail catching fire. The flames crawled over him, and all he knew was pain._

* * *

"You think it was easy for me?" Jin shot back. "I thought you were dead. I thought you were both dead-"

"And you mourned so much." Hei Zei said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I did!"

Hei Zei looked at Su. "When we last fought, by all acounts and purposes you should have fallen with me." He pointed at Jin. "He saved you, didn't he?"

Su answered without hesitation. "Yes."

Hei Zei looked at Jin, the emotionless mask that had been his sole expression for much of his life returned. "Do you know how hot magma is? Do you know what it feels like, just being near it? Do you know how much you can live through?"

"I don't-"

"So you saved someone who tried to burn you alive-"

"After we torched their place."

"Who we hunted down and locked up together-"

"That was your obsession-not mine!"

"You thought Lang was dead. You knew who killed him, you watched her try and kill me-"

"You were already dead!" Jin yelled. "You died Zei, years ago. You died in that warehouse!"

 _"And who's fault was that!?"_ The raccoon growled.

"Just shut up!" Jin yelled. "You don't understand! You think I j-just 'joined' them? N-no! I tried to do the old jobs, but the Imperial Army didn't want me. Nobody wanted me! I was desperate."

Zei knew where this was going. "So you killed someone." He finished.

Jin nodded. "I was desperate!" He certainly sounded desperate now. "What was I meant to do? So I took one job and it hurt and I felt sick... But then I took another one and another one-"

"And you found you liked it." Hei Zei finished. He already knew this, from before the Thieves Guild...

"Yes." Jin finished weakly. "I was...am... Good at it."

"And there's something else you can blame on the Wus!" The raccoon snarled.

Jin suddenly looked infuriated. "If it weren't for Wan I'd have probably ended it all-so ya can take your blame and shove it up your ass!" The crossbow was pointing at Hei Zei once more, though now it was no longer shaking in Jin's paw. "Find something else to do with your life or say goodbye to it."

Hei Zei stood there, unphased and calm. "Go on. Shoot me." He said with no emotion. "Pull the trigger and end me. Then move on and forget I ever existed."

Jin's paw started shaking once more.

"Go on. You moved on once. Do it again."

Wan placed her own paw over his. "Jin. Forget it. Let's just go." The crossbow was lowered and they all turned to leave, Su supporting both Wing and Lang.

The raccoon could not keep up his act of emotionlessness and blinked in confusion. That had not been expected... As he blinked for the second time he found his eyes were wet, and found that he had tears in his eyes. He was crying... Hei Zei could not remember the last time he had cried.

Wan lead the way through the wreckage, one paw squeezing tightly over Jin's. She found the door and gave it a hard shove, suddenly noticing how much of the room was filled with smoke. Lang started coughing, and the flames were creeping forwards.

And the door wouldn't open.

"Come on!" She yelled in frustration, giving it a good kick. She didn't have the time, or the patience to pick the lock. Jin tried to punch it, but it stood firm. What the hell was this door made out of?!

Su threw in a kick of her own, but Wing and Lang were too tired to help. Jin reached for his bag of explosives and remembered that he didn't bring it with him. They were locked in.

Hei Zei wondered what he could have been if his life had had better circumstances. He had the brains to be a doctor, the tactical mind of a general. He could have been anything... Yet he had pursued the Wus like a mad dog. And for what? To almost burn alive three times? He had achieved nothing... He had become nothing but a revenge-seeking worm. Was it too late to change? For him? Definetly. For Jin... He shut his eyes once more and wiped away the tears. He found that the fire didn't bother him as much. Perhaps he had gotten used to it. Or his brain just had too much to process. He felt the latter was more likely.

He considered his options. He could die now and hopefully forget about this entire life. Or he could leave the burning restaurant and decide what to do then. He chose the latter. As he had learnt falling down a volcano, revenge was not worth his life.

Claws raked helplessly against the Ironwood door as the room filled more and more with smoke. Lang's coughing worsened, and the clouded air bit at their eyes, like cruel flees.

"Ironic isn't it? You made sure we couldn't leave that warehouse, didn't you Su?"

The addressed leopard turned, her eyes alive with malice. "If we're all going to die anyways, I'm going to kill you first."

"Would that be before or after you vortex the door?" The raccoon asked coolly.

"Oh right!" Wan cheered. "Come on Su, let's focus!"

Jin scrambled out of the way and pulled Wing and Lang with him. The two leopards unsheathed their claws and placed their tails together. And then they spun.

Nothing, except Master Croc's hide had ever stopped the Wu vortex. The door was no exception either.

The crowd cheered as they emerged from the flames. Wing and Lang collapsed just outside the door and several pigs and rabbits helped pull the two to greater safety. Su went to check on Wing and Wan, cheerful as always, wrapped her arms around Jin.

"We did it Jin! We escaped the burning building together!"

"Yeah! We sure did!" He sounded far away and distracted, and his smirk was off. Wan followed his gaze to Hei Zei, the raccoon staring helplessly at the burning building, his fear of fire returning to reap cruel revenge.

Wan let go of her mate and in three broad strokes was upon Hei Zei. Distracted and taken by surprise, the raccoon could only watch as Wan pinned him to the ground.

"Listen here Hei Zei! I hate you and all your ugly burns, Wing hates your ugly burns and Su hates you-but I love Jin and if he's your brother then that makes you my brother-in-law-"

She was interrupted when the crowd of romantics burst into applause and cheers. Wan blinked, before blushing and acknowledging their praise with a small bow, before turning back to Hei Zei.

"We can and will hate each other till the end of time-but that doesn't mean we can't live with each other-well more like the fact that you exist! For Jin I can live with anything!" Wan got up and turned away.

"D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"

* * *

"Tohru-sama, did you hear that?" Masuta asked.

The silver fox nodded. "It sounded like d'awing-"

"It must be screaming!" Hoku interrupted. Anything to buy Chibiki more time. "Look at all the smoke! We must go help!" He said, feigning distress.

Tohru could see through his acting...but the smoke couldn't be an act. "All men, head this way! Hurry!"

* * *

Hei Zei got up, uncomfortably aware that all eyes were on him. It was time to make his choice... He closed his eyes.

"Jin... I'm sorry-" before he could finish with 'I can't change' the fox leapt at him and wrapped him in a hug.

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew you'd see! I mean you _are_ the smart one!" The statement was mostly an exclamation of happiness-Jin had had no idea of what Hei Zei had meant to say.

The raccoon blinked and found his eyes were wet again. Maybe he could change...for Jin.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!" Went the crowd, some of them also tearing up.

"Geez Hei Zei, I haven't seen you cry since we were kids!" Lang interrupted, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.

Hei Zei prized himself free of Jin and stood straight, clearing his throat to try and regain some of his emotioless mask. He turned to the Wus. "Of course... I'm only 'putting up' with you."

"Same." Said Su and Wing in unison, in the same tone as the raccoon himself. Wan though was far less confused and far more cheerful.

"So we're not going to be actively killing each other anymore? This is great! Sake for everyone!"

The crowd screamed in joy, throwing their paws into the air and cheering madly. One old man even had the audacity to clap.

Tohru's eye twitched in anoyance. "I delayed our return to the Silver Fang for a party announcement? Men, move back!"

* * *

 _Footnote: Oh my was this a wonderful chapter to write. XD I have a few ideas to do with Hei Zei and Lang to take further, but nothing in the immediate future. The first flashback of this chapter is taken directly from Always Together, a fic I will reccomend again but can't reccomend enough. I am very satisfied with the conclusion of this mini(is it mini?)arc. Next chapter we head back to the action at the Silver Fang estate and then there are probably two or three more chapters dealing with the consequences of The Heist._


	18. Opened Vaults and the Battle Underground

Chibiki swung recklessly, his katana met Denko's, sending sparks of lightning flying in all directions. The bear did not care, and swung the scythe-chain down at the raven, who only just managed to block in time. Some kind of burning strength had taken hold over the black bear, who's violent swings tore off chunks from the walls and floor.

 _Damnit! I need more space!_ Outwardly the raven was calm and collected as he parried the ursine's lightning-fast attacks with his own. However, his keen, analytical mind told him that if he wasted too much time he was royally screwed. The narrow space awarded Chibiki the advantage, as the raven could now no longer move around his opponent, and had to face the larger, tougher animal head-on. The gem Chibiki had consumed also seemed to have given him a boost in confidence as well as replenishing his levels of chi. Denko ran lightning through his blade and dodging two reckless swings, plunged the metal into the wall. Chunks of earth ceashed down onto his opponent, allowing Denko to dive backwards into the cavern. The raven sheathed his blade and summoned his bow, then he waited... And waited...

And sure enough Chibiki rose, throwing off the rubble and roaring like a madbeast. The narrow corridor had forced Denko to face the bear head-on, now that there was some distance between them he was relatively safe and Chibiki couldn't dodge what came next.

"Dragon Chi Volley!" The avian yelled, in a calm tone, loosening several arrows at once, that each crackled with his energy.

Every single arrow caught Chibiki and sunk through his armour and fur. The black bear staggered and fell to his knees. Denko drew his sword and walked over.

"You have slaughtered inumerable innocents. You are a rogue warlord, standard procedure is to erase you. But I gave you a choice. For the good of our country you could have stepped aside. Well... You made the wrong choice." To put the bear out of his misery Denko plunged his sword through the mammal's chest. Then he pulled it free again and Chibiki fell onto his back.

The raven walked forwards, tiptoeing around the body out of respect for the dead. Then to his surprise, the bear's paw grabbed him by the front, slammed the side of his head into the wall and flung him across the passageway.

The raven coughed, slightly dizzy from the unexpected attack and rose to his feet. His eyes widened as the gash on Chibiki's chest he had made only moments before, vanished.

"But you're not innocent." Denko wondered aloud. Then the bear tore the arrows off his body, flung them to the ground and began spinning his weapons. The holes in his body had healed, but the holes in his armour did not.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" The bear said with a menacing gleam in his eye.

 _The gem healed him... So that is the power of the Silver Fang's Secret..._ Denko readied himself as Chibiki came charging once more.

* * *

"Take that! And that! And that! Phew! I won!" Han Guan wiped the sweat off his face and panted for a short while, before straightening up and extending his claws. "Okay Reidak-sama! I'm com-aaah!" The wolverine only just ducked a knife that would otherwise have ended him.

Izumi was standing at the doorway, grinning cruelly. "Goodbye." She said, before swinging her arm to launch several knives from her sleeve... Which was now empty.

Izumi looked down at her sleeve incredulously, then looked up as the natsu landed in her face. Han Guan followed up with two slashes aimed at the bobtail's head. Though they sliced the eggplant clean in two Izumi was unhurt and managed to kick the mustelid's stomach. Winded, Han Guan was unable to avoid the cucumber that slammed into his muzzle.

Izumi flipped backwards and picked up a pair of carrots, welding them like knives. She charged with a menacing snarl. Han blocked the first carrot with his elbow, and slashed the second clean in two. Izumi responded by slamming her foot down on top of his and slamming her remaining carrot half into the side of his head. Han stumbled to the side and was promptly floored by a leg sweep.

He rolled to the side and avoided the first carrot, which sunk through the floorboard and stood there. Extending the claws on his feet he kicked the side of his opponent's head, creating five short gashes there.

Izumi stepped back and put a paw to her cheek. "Y-you scratched me. With your foot!"

Han rolled to his feet. "Well, I am a wolverine." He shrugged, before grabbing a cucumber and charging forwards with a yell of "BANZAI!"

Izumi extended her own claws and tore the vegetable to pieces, before attempting to slash at the wolverine's face. "You're not the only one with claws you know!"

Han Guan blocked her claws with his own, shoved her arms apart and delivered a pair of lightning fast elbows across her face. Next, he brought her face into his incoming knee.

"My nose!" She yelled in rage. "You broke my nose!"

"Um... Sorry?" Han Guan asked in confusion.

"DIE BITCH!" She screamed tearing open a drawer and uncovering several knives, which she promptly flung at him. Han Guan managed to escape the blades, slipped on a potatoe and fell backwards into a spice cupboard.

"Oh dear", he managed to say as a pot of ground pepper came falling towards his face. It was followed up with an "IT BUUUUUURNS!"

"I know..." Moaned Buruto.

"You think that's painful?! Well wait till I peel your fur off!" Izumi drew the last knife from the drawer. It was blunt. "Gah! Why can nothing happen right!?" She threw the blunt knife, dazing the wolverine, before giving a tug to a sharp one nearby. It refused to budge.

* * *

"Go to vault. Get the gem. Go to vault. Get the gem." Saras raced through the estate, he just passed the kitchen when he spotted Izumi. He came to a halt, before doubling back to the kitchen.

"You!" He exclaimed. Izumi turned to see the fox, and gave him a death glare.

"Who the hell are you anyways!? What do you want!? Can you see I'm trying to kill somebody!? Is one kill too much to ask for!?"

Saras charged forwards, grabbed a wok and teleported behind the bobtail, bringing the pan down on the unprepared back of her head. "I'm Saras Kanbujian 'Kanbu' Shifty!" He said, punctuating every word with another whack from the wok. "And I am robbing the Silver Fang!" Izumi was out cold, and Saras finished with a final whack of the wok. "Now if you'll excuse me." And with that the vulpine disappeared out the door again.

* * *

Chibiki overshot the kusarigama, which instead of slicing the raven in two as he had intended, wrapped the chain around him. Improvising, Chibiki pulled the avian forwards, and swung with his other paw in a motion that would have decapitated a lesser opponent. Denko just managed to parry with his blade, before flapping free of the chain.

He stood backwards, panting slightly when an idea formed in his head. If he could get Chibiki to the powder...

The bear roared and swung down at him, leaving his stomach exposed. The raven, acting out of instinct, jabbed forwards and scewered him. Chibiki ignored the blade sticking through him, and slammed the hilt of his sword against the top of Denko's head. He followed up by raising a leg and stamping down on the avian, flattening him against the floor.

"Haha! Now you're dead!" He raised his katana for the killing blow, when a vast quantity of smoke filled the cavern. Coughing, Chibiki could not avoid the ninja star that slammed into his foot. He hopped off of the raven, relieving Denko of his weight. While he pulled out the weapons, Denko had a short time to rest up and plan. His chest hurt like hell, but nothing felt broken. Still close combat was definetly a no-no. Still, Chibiki seemed more hampered by the smoke than he was. He slammed both wings into the ground, letting the smoke rise all around them. He heard Chibiki growling and could see the bear's glowing eyes.

 _But he can't see me_. "Over here!" He shot a ninja star.

Taken by surprise by all the smoke, Chibiki was unable to avoid the weapon, which opened up his shoulder. He dropped his kusarigama. In this kind of environment the weapon would only hamper him. Removing the sword embedded in his gut, he watched as the wound sealed itself and felt his insides rebuild. Throwing aside Denko's sword, he charged blindly into the smoke. Two shuriken were thrown at him, he was lucky and managed to deflect one of them, but the second tore a gash through his ear.

"I'm not there, silly! Are you deaf as well as blind?" Denko taunted,and three more shuriken flew through the smoke, each one embedding itself deep in his armour.

"Scared, are we little bird?" He retorted.

"Nope, just waiting."

Chibiki focused, letting the waves of shuriken hit him and ignoring the briefest hints of pain he got before the magic of the gem kicked in. Somehow the raven knew his exact position, either something was giving him away or the raven was extremely adept at fighting blind. He blocked the next shuriken and in the flash of steel caught sight of his reflection-and his glowing eyes.

 _I'm blind anyways..._ Shutting his eyes, the bear blocked the final shuriken. Then it stopped. _He can't see me now..._

"Where did he go?" He heard Denko mutter.

Chibiki charged forwards, swinging haphazardly-and tripping over a rope that had most definetly not been there before. The bear landed hard on his nose, and promptly felt pain shoot through his body.

Denko stood on his back, his shuriken crackling with power and coursing down through the bear's armour. While he was getting the shock of a lifetime, Denko explained his strategy.

"By halting my shuriken throwing when you closed your eyes I let you think I had no idea where you were. You should know as a nina that I am adept at fighting blind, furthermore I could sense your location the entire time anyways."

"Stop. Showing. Off!" Chibiki grunted managing to throw off the raven. He swung madly, but Denko blocked in time with the side of his shuriken, before easily dodging the next swing and hurling his last weapon at the bear. While Chibiki tore the shuriken off of his forehead, Denko dissappeared into the shadows once more.

* * *

Saras' jaw dropped at the sight of the wide open vaults. He blinked, disbelieving his luck. "Oh my..." The fox stumbled forwards. "Yes! Yesyesyesyesyes!" Scampering into the cavern he could only admire the beauty. Warm crystals of something glowing and resembling glass grew from the walls, but all the fox had eyes for way the blue gem, resting on the floor and drawing him towards it.

Saras reached out and picked up the gem. It was large, but not heavy and felt warm in his grip, making his fur tingle. "Woohoo!" He tossed it into the air, catching it once more as it fell. It felt so good. Hell he felt good... Powerful even! "Daddy's missed you!" He said, cradling the gem like a cub. Then he cringed and held it at arm's length. "Okay, give me a break. I'm having a really weird day."

Sutoaraiki woke up, feeling sore all over. The vaults were open, but Chibiki was not there for some reason.

"Okay. I can do this." The fox placed the Jit Kun Crystal on the ground in front of him and placed his paws together. There was a puff of green and standing in his place was a crane. The avian expanded his wings, and gave a single, strong flap. In another puff of green there stood a hedgehog. Grinning, the hedgehog curled into a ball, and in a flash of green there stood an armadillo. Uncurling, the armadillo put his paws together and in another flash there stood a mole. Then, flopping helplessly he was a catfish, then a platypus, his tail flat and heavy. Then a mouse, small and buck-teethed. Finally he was a hummingbird. Grabbing the Jit Kun Crystal (which was now much bigger than him) in his talons, he flapped frantically and tossed it into the air. He put his wings together and there was a final flash of green.

Sutoaraiki's jaw fell open.

"I did it! Yes! Yesyesyesyes!" The dragon stood where the hummingbird-mole-hedgehog-armadillo-platypus-catfish-crane-mouse-hummingbird-fox had been a moment before.

He was short, only about a head taller than the fox had been. His scales were a bright red, with a black nose-horn and two more growing on the top of his head. His frills were short but wide, and just as red as the rest of him. Large bat wing poked out of the armholes in his black vest. His pants were unnecessarily baggy, and he had retained the metal bird-feet of the fox. His tail was tipped with four, short spines and currently had the blue gem dangling from it.

At present the shapeshifter was doing a happy dance. "Haha mission accomplished. Two down, two to go." He was about to skip out the vault when he spotted Sutoaraiki. "You."

"You?" The hornet asked, confused at first. But still he had heard of kitsune and tanuki before... _I should have killed this cub in his sleep... "_ Alright, it's time for you to go." Two wooden darts flew at Saras, but the fox deflected them with the gem.

"I don't think so. You see, I wanted to be a dragon for two reasons. One, I'm fireproof, bitch. Two. I can burn your ass! Also, none of this is really personal and I don't know _what_ you hit me with, but noone makes me talk like an idiot!" Saras put his wings together and reared his head back, his cheeks bulging as flames rushed from his lungs to his mouth.

 _Oh fuck..._ Sutoaraiki had time to think. Then the bug hurled himself to the side. The flames hit the side of the cavern insead. That was when the vaults began rumbling.

* * *

"Come out and fight you coward!" Chibiki growled into the darkness. There was nothing. No shuriken, no tripwire. Nothing. Less experienced killers without a magic boost would have been incredibly scared, but Chibiki was neither. He waited, constantly slashing in front of him. He growled louder. "Come out, come out, come out wherever you are." The silence remained unbroken.

He stepped forwards and felt the room widen. The air was somewhat fresher too, as if it hadn't been breathed recently. It was still in a cloud of smoke though, telling him that Denko was somewhere nearby.

He slashed in a sudden attack to the side, and felt with satisfaction as his sword crashed through something. Stooping forwards, the bear felt powder running through his paw. He sniffed it. Black powder. That meant he was under the dungeons... Then suddenly several barrels toppled over him from every direction, burying the bear under piles of broken wood and powder. He tried to climb free, but it was too heavy and the splintered wood bit into his flesh like a thousand cruel snakes.

"Maybe I can't kill you. But I bet getting blown up will hurt a lot. So much that you'll be powerless for let's say an hour, depending on how long it takes for the gem's magic to run out."

"You evil little-"

Denko withdrew two flints and smashed them together, the spark lighting a trail of powder the avian had left there on purpose.

"BASTARD!"

Denko turned his back and walked away calmly. _Sorry Han...it's for the best. Now, to destroy the vaults._

* * *

"Reidak-san! Are you okay?" Han Guan came bouncing, dragging Izumi and Buruto behind him. The two were tied up so tightly in rope it was as if the wolverine had gift-wrapped them in rope.

"I'm in extreme pain and am bleeding all over. But yes... I'm fine. So you won."

"Well I lost, then some fox came and whacked her on the head. Only then he said he was going to rob the vaults-"

"What?!" Lord Tohru asked, his eyes wide and shocked, darting from Buruto, wrapped in rope and head still jammed in a chili barrel. Izumi, out cold and tied up. Reidak, bleeding and lying on the ground and Han Guan, who now looked both panic-stricken and as if a jar of pepper had fallen on his face..

"Who?" Masuta asked, thinking of the fox Han had just mentioned.

"H-how?" Hoku asked, wondering how one idiotic wolverine had brought down his entire, carefully thought-through plan.

"Lord Tohru-sama." Han Guan said gulping audibly.

At that moment, the palace under the dungeons exploded and a single parparet that stood over where the vaults were, fell into the ground.

* * *

 _Footnote: And the battle is fought, but not quite won XD It was a bit of a challenge writing Denko vs Chibiki, purely because the former should normally curb-stomp the latter, but I had some fun with the Silver Fang Vault's secret. In the previous version of the fic I didn't even know what was inside the Silver Fang vaults to begin with. Alas the timing of Lord Tohru's arrival looks pretty bad for Han Guan. XD And Saras now has Xei and managed to fill his shapeshifting 'roster'. I'm gonna be honest, nobody's dead. With that in mind this fic is actually pretty tame in the 'dark' aspect of my usual work._

 _I want to finish this before the end of January, but I don't know whether I can reach that deadline or not. Here's to hoping I can!_


	19. A Few Sayonaras

Han's ears flattened against his head and he bit back a whimper. "I can explain!" He exclaimed, waving his paws wildly. "Well I can't explain what just happened b-but-" A look from Hoku silenced him and the wolverine gave another audible gulp.

Tohru crept forwards, towards the area of the explosion. Masuta and most of the guards followed suite.

Hoku would have been tearing his fur out, boiling with rage as he was. One stupid, idiotic, wolverine had also destroyed the vaults. If it wasn't broad daylight the fox would have been stabbing his corpse by now. But, unfortunately he was surrounded by witnesses.

"What did you do!?" He bellowed, spit flying from his mouth as he approached the mustelid.

"I fired all the other guards, then I hired some guys to defend the Silver Fang, then the Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands came and well... I caught two of them..."

Hoku's eye twitched. "Do you have any idea what you've done!?"

"I-I never asked to be left in charge." Han pointed put, cowering behind the tied form of Buruto.

Hoku blinked and realized it was true.

"This is not his fault." Reidak defended.

"Shut up! Look at this place!" Hoku waved around madly. His life's work! His life's ambition! "You should be executed!"

"Hoku!" Lord Tohru came striding back, evidently he had heard his cousin's yelling. "You do not have permission to execute anyone. Specifically someone you left in charge, despite knowing full well he is not fit for the job! The blame lies heavily with you as well."

"Oh, so we must let this man go unpunished for reaking havoc on this estate!"

Tohru glared at him, but turned to Han Guan, his face softening slightly into a compassionate look. "I'm sorry Han, but this is one time too many. You can't stay. We can help send you on your way, but it would make us look like fools if we kept you."

The wolverine looked down at his feet, his ears still flat on his head, his expression blank.

Hoku growled and curled his paws into fists, trudging away to the crater. Feeling slightly guilty and extremely awkward Tohru marched after him.

* * *

 _Meanwhile at the vaults.._.

* * *

Saras and Sutoaraiki cleared the vaults just as it collapsed completely.

"Phew! I'm alive. Xei, are you okay?"

Sutoaraiki prepped his final dart, his most potent knock-out serum. He fired just as Saras bent forwards to nuzzle the gem. Before he could reminiscence about the stupidity he had created, his dart bounced against one rock, flew into another which sent it spiralling towards another one, which deflected it back at Sutoaraiki.

"You lucky kit..." He murmured, before collapsing.

"Huh? What's up with you?" Deciding he didn't care, Saras shrugged and walked out the vaults, shifting back into a fox as he went.

* * *

 _Back at the crater.._.

* * *

Hoku almost fainted at the sight. All his gunpowder, shipped directly from Gongmen in secret, gone, with shards of splintered wood lying everywhere. And right in the center of the crater, his eyes loosing a kind of golden glow, was Chibiki, who was entirely uninjured but felt like he had been dragged through a noodle-maker backwards. Masuta appeared at Hoku's side and smirked a little.

"Clearly, Chibiki-kun you didn't pay much attention to my lessons."

* * *

 _Back at the vaults..._

* * *

Denko had retrieved his sword and various ninja stars, before he arrived at the vault. He blinked once at the sight of crumbled stone, with Sutoaraiki the hornet lying on the ground, his own dart sticking out of his unconcious form. "Well I guess Japan is safe for now."

The raven next went and found the wolverine starind depressedly at his feet and Reidak, who was lying on the ground, looking somewhat worse for wear. He placed a comforting wing on the wolverine. "It's not your fault Han. Come on, let's go take a break."

* * *

 _Almost an hour later..._

* * *

"Don't worry, back in China we'll be with each other again." Wan promised.

"I know. Until then our love will keep us together." Jin added.

With a final wave Wan turned to join her (utterly deadpanned) sisters. Jin sighed dramatically as he watched her leave. It had taken him almost an hour to say goodbye.

Lang snorted. "At least they can't breed." He assured Hei Zei. "I mean, they could adopt but-"

Hei Zei shuddered. "Do not let Jin hear you say that. Ever."

"Hear what?"

"Nothing." They both replied instantly.

Jin smirked. "I knew you guys wouldn't hide anything from me!"

The two shared a quick look, which the tall fox failed to notice.

"So... What exactly happens now? I mean it is your job to catch people like me..."

"Jin, I'm not going to arrest you." Hei Zei responded. The raccoon sighed and rubbed his temples. "To be honest, I don't fancy planning ahead anymore. If you can end up head-over-heels in love with Wan Wu... I think it goes to say that anything can happen. I guess we'll come back to China soon."

"We get to keep in touch, right?"

"Jin, if I was angry with you, you'd know it."

"Really? Coz I thought the whole 'lack of emotion' was your forte."

"It is." The raccoon replied bluntly.

Lang snorted. "You didn't look very 'emotionless' crying your eyes out."

"I was not-" Before he could finish his denial, Jin joined the conversation.

"Hey Zei, you know now that our feud is officially over with the Wus you and Su might finally get to working out your owm relationship." He said with a wink.

Assassin or thief or bounty hunter... No matter what Jin or Lang became it seemed, they would never resist an opportunity to tease him. But then again, what else were brothers for?

* * *

"Who even needed the Wus?" Saras said aloud as he strolled through the woods, tossing and casually catching Xei. "I told Aang I could do it myself, but nooooo, it's too dangerous and I can't even speak the language-who even cares!? Sometimes Xei, I think you're the only one that understands me. Anyways, now that I have you I can just go back to China. Screw the Wus."

"Excuse me?" Scoffed Wing.

"Oh, you heard me." Saras said, gulping audibly. "Well-"

"You were intending to double-cross us." Su said, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Well..." Saras began playing for time. "Yes." He blurted out. "Cursed hornet, I should have roasted him! Okay, look we can work something out-"

"How exactly does the Bat Cave have three tonnes of gold... And you?"

Saras was now sweating. "Well... W-we never intended to pay you."

Su laughed lightly. "So an organisation nobody in the Underworld has ever heard of, wants to try and take on the Wu sisters? Did you really think you could get away with this?"

"Yes. I mean we m-maniplulated you into coming here in the first place. Honestly, did you think your messengers just vanished? N-no we b-borrowed them." Saras gulped again.

Wing glared murderously at the fox. "Well no worries. We'll fill our part of the bargain. We'll bring you back to China... Maybe in a few hundred pieces?"

"I d-don't think so."

Wing pounced forwards, but Saras was quick on his feet and had already scampered into the woods.

Su frowned and shook her head. "Leave him be. He's really not worth it."

"But our payment!" Screeched Wing, ready to claw the vulpine's hide off if necessary.

"Well all those nice romantics gave us lots of money." Wan pointed out. "That should get us back to China. And then ya know, the usual."

Wing looked stricken. "But our reputation?!"

"If that kit tries to say he cheated the Wu sisters every member of the Imperial Army will be after him for underage drinking."

Wing sighed in frustration. "Fine. But if I do see him again... Oh boy he's going to loose that bushy tail of his if it's the last thing I do!"

Wan shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

* * *

Han Guan paced the room like a caged lion while Denko finished wrapping Reidak's wounds shut.

"There you go. Should be good as new." The raven said, giving it a good pat.

Reidak winced. "Han... Please sit down. You're making me anxious."

The wolverine sat down automatically, his eyes wide and far away.

"Han, I'm really, really sorry about what happened to you." Denko said. "If it makes you feel any better the Brotherhood of Bloodspilt Hands combined bounty should be more than enough to pay for the necessary repairs."

"And you no longer have to pay us. Or the Brotherhood, they sort of vanished." Reidak added.

"Thanks guys." The mustelid replied dejectedly.

"So... What do we do now? Any plans for the future?" Reidak asked, hoping to try and cheer the wolverine.

"Same old, same old. Just travelling around for me, helping whoever I can, wherever I can." Denko said with a simple shrug.

"That's me as well." Reidak smirked, then looked solemn again. "What about you Han?"

He gave no answer and the mood fell as awkwardness began settling in.

"Come on Han...it can't be all bad."

"Yeah. There must be something we can do-"

The wolverine looked up suddenly. "This is great! Now that I'm not stuck in Japan I can do something so amazing that it will bring honor to my entire clan!"

"Like what?" His companions asked simultaneously.

"Well... I don't know yet. But something big, something huge. Something... Something that'll make my mama proud." He said with a contended sigh, one rarely exhibited by someone who had been fired only a short while earlier.

Reidak and Denko shared a look and shrugged. Han Guan was truly unpredictable, and silly as he was they hoped for the bestbfor him.

* * *

 _Footnote: Originally I was going to have this and the next chapter just be one big one... But decided against it because in terms of time it takes place a week after all of this._

 _So yeah, Han Guan's been fired but that doesn't seem to bother him much, which is probably good for Denko too, otherwise he'd probably feel really guilty (despite the fact that technically it's not entirely his fault) Reidak is recuperating and the Wus and Saras have had a breakup caused in part by 'truth' serum induced stupidity XD Note the Wus aren't generally this merciful but after a day like that...it's pretty easy to guess why they aren't ripling him apart XD_

 _Now the next chapter is purely setting up for One Form Too Many (already completed, I know, but still I have some things I wanted to write for it that didn't fit back when I was writing it) as well as concluding the Wus arc and catching up with the BOBSH and Hoku._

 _So I don't know when I'll write the Zei Brotherhood again, but I do have plans for them sometime soon. Thank you to Berserker88 for letting me use them._

 _Reidak I'm currently writing about in House of Tamod, so he's still in the fold._

 _Denko I have plans for in A Land's Struggle (the new, named-by-Ismaël remake to Mongol Wars that brings together everything I've set up/am in the process of setting up) but aside from that don't have any plans. Though that can still change. Thank you to the Dragonsaver for letting me use him. Also if you want to continue reading my series from here chronologically One Form Too Many is next, but you should probably go back and read The Feral Islands first._

 _Also before you Empressimperia fans start burning me down, I will give her credit. Do not worry._


	20. Endings Are New Beginnings

The journey back to China was one big headache. Literally.

Saras had only just caught the boat, before collapsing on deck. Then, as usual, he had spent the majority of his journey either bent over a pail or the side of the boat. And his head was killing him. Now at least he knew what a hangover felt like-and it was bad enough to put him off of alcohol for the rest of his life. Then he had been unceremoniously dumped onto the streets of Gongmen. He had then trudged all the way home. But still one thought was enough to drive him forwards-the look on Aang's face.

"Ta-da!" He said, holding out the large blue gem to his brother.

Aang blinked, but composed himself shortly afterwards with a knowing cough. "Well, congratulations." He held Xei tenderly in his wings, feeling the warm, fuzzy feeling of power course through him. "And you managed to escape the Wu sisters unharmed. I must admit I'm impressed. How did you even get into the vaults without them?"

Saras grinned and reclined against the wall. "Well it was pretty easy." The fox lied casually, only to get his ear cuffed by the vulture Daitui. Dressed in black robes, with brown and black feathers and eyes that were entirely black, the bird of prey looked like something right out of a nightmare. Yet at the same time was the closest thing to a father they had.

"How many times have I told you not to say 'well' before lying?" The vulture shook his head from side to side. "Still, I am impressed as well. In one year you brought back half the crystal. At this rate the gem will be united by next spring."

"That's not all you'll be proud of." Saras declared and in a puff of green the fox became a dragon.

Aang's jaw dropped, but Daitui failed to change his expression

"And you said I couldn't do it." The shapeshifter added with a smirk, turning back to a fox.

Daitui cuffed him again. "You ought to show your elders more respect." The avian said calmly, while Saras rubbed his ear.

"Congratulations little bro. This was one mission very well done."

Saras gave a contended sigh. At that moment all the headaches were worth it.

"Now your next job is smaller scale, because we don't want the Wus hunting you down and killing you as they no doubt threatened to. So you're going to Gongmen to sell vodka."

Saras blinked. "Sell vodka?"

"Not now. Around midwinter." Aang said calmly. "And the Wus would never go to Gongmen, I mean the Masters Council beat them before they were even Masters. Not that they'd bother coming after us. They think we're ex-miners." He grinned. "And I returned all their commisions, so no harm done. But you're not going alone. You have a new partner you see. I suggest you spend a lot of your free time getting to know one another."

The door opened and Saras facepalmed. _Oh dear..._

* * *

"There's no place like home." Wan said with a contented sigh as they walked into the volcanic lair that was their home.

"And not a single scrap of gold." Wing grumbled, then she pointed at Su and Wan. "I told you both that this was a bad idea-"

"Hey the whole journey wasn't worthless. We made peace with the Brotherhood and got to see some of Japan. We also learned a valuable lesson."

"We did?" The two asked simultaneously.

"Love is more powerful than hate."

"Please, save stuff like that for your Jin time."

Su tuned them both out and went to boil water to make tea. She found the kettle, and placed it directly over the magma, filled it with water and left it there. Next, she went to recover the tea leaves from their storage room. To her surprise the door was locked. That was strange... Normally they didn't lock anything, considering almost everyone in China knew not to mess with her or her sisters. She found the key quickly and clicked the lock. Then the doors burst open and a pile of scrolls cascaded over her. She let out a cat like yelp as all the paper fell around her.

Wing and Wan appeared at her side in moments. "What the hell? We don't have all this paper."

"They're letters." Wing snapped grabbing one scroll and tearing it open. "Hey, this one's from a month ago!"

"And this one's from yesterday." Wan cried in jubilation.

"Do you know what this means?" Su asked, with a frown.

"We were played like kittens by two teenagers!" Wing yelled, tearing her scroll to shreds.

"We're back in business!" Wan yelled at the same time, throwing several scrolls into the air simultaneously. "Look at this one, we just have to kill some wannabee killer. Easy-peasy."

Su frowned at the scroll. "We have to do it in two days." Su's frown changed to a smirk. "Well, I guess we are back in business."

* * *

Hoku was alone, and apparently not being followed. The air was dark and fresh, and the moon was hidden by clouds. Two weeks had passed since the destruction of the estate and his plans. It had taken one week for the Brotherhood (of Bloodspilt Hands) to escape. And another one for suspicion to be erased from him. Now he went swiftly through the trees, desperate for answers. How? Everything had been perfectly placed and ready. How had it all come crashing down?

Repair works were underway, of course, but it would be years before whatever had been in the vaults would be unearthed and his cursed silver cousin had no qualms with taking everything at a relaxed pace. The bastard had even sent someone out to look for Han Guan to check whether he needed anything. Thankfully, the wolverine had already left Japan.

He stopped walking suddenly when he found a knife digging into his chest. He took a step away from Izumi instinctively.

"Hoku-kun." Came the voice of Chibiki, the bear sounded much less than pleased.

"Chibiki-kun." Hoku returned icily. The silence was tense and dangerous. Eventually Hoku broke it with an impatient snap. "What happened?"

Chibiki growled. "We had the vault plans and were heading to the Silver Fang when some lightning-weilding raven attacked Izumi and some tiger and fox stole the plans from me. Then I fought them both atop the waterfall and the raven managed to make away with the plans. I sent Sutoaraiki to find out about the fox-who was shapeshifting. You must inform that catfish at once-the one who butchered the tanuki. Anyways this Chinese fox was here with three proffesional assassins, who fought us on the next day with three more guards. We managed to overpower them and locked them up in Waterfall Into Bed before setting the place on fire."

"They escaped." Hoku muttered.

Chibiki glared at him. Izumi took up the report. "When we arrived me and Buruto-san were heading for the vaults and were confronted by Han Guan and the same blind tiger. I managed to overpower the tiger, but had to rescue Buruto from the Guan bastard."

"You were defeated by Han Guan? Put that on your wanted posters your bounty will drop to three yen." Hoku snapped.

"I beat the wolverine! I was about to kill him when the cursed shapeshifter knocked me out!" Izumi yelled.

"The vault blew open in my face." Growled Sutoaraiki. "When I came to the shapeshifter attacked me."

"Oh, so you destroyed the vaults. How pray tell, did you end up with your own dart through your butt?"

"The shapeshifter, using some kind of dark magic-became a twelve foot dragon and lay waste to the vaults. Then the sadistic brat ran me through." Sutoataiki exaggerated, because being beaten by a humongous dragon was better than saying that a teenaged idiot had outsmarted him through sheer stupidity, stupidity, no less, that he had created.

"And the lightning ninja raven defeated me and blew me up." Chibiki growled.

"It seems I was wrong to work with you." Hoku remarked.

He was promptly grabbed by the front and lifted up to Chibiki's eye level. "I'm surprised you're not asking how I'm still alive. I got into the vaults and I ate one of the gems. The power Aneshihoku... You can't imagine how good it felt." The bear threw him down. "We failed this time-next time we try the power will be ours and we will not be stopped by anyone."

Hoku got up roughly, the thought of power, power so close he could almost feel it already made him throw aside his dark mood. "Very well. Next time. For now I will send information to Daimyo Masuta, I'm sure he'll deal with the shapeshifter... As for the lightning raven... I'll consider putting a bounty on his head but that might be too difficult to achieve. The best course of action is to let him come out from the shadows-we'll deal with him then. Bad news though, the vaults will probably take years to unearth due to the secrecy of it and all. But I suppose that gives us time-while my cousin unearths the treasure we arrange to steal it from him."

Chibiki cocked his head to the side. "What are our orders?"

"For now nothing. We wait. When the time is ripe the four of you will travel from clan to clan. We will build an army and together... Well, there will no longer be five Daimyos... One should suffice."

With that Hoku turned and left the Brotherhood in a very good mood. So one plan had been foiled... He would make more and one day it would succeed... And when it did... Well, Han Guan would have wished he had never been born to say the least.

* * *

 _Footnote: Kind of a grim note to end this story with but considering this one was full of subplots the other endings were rather more upbeat..._

 _Any who thank you to Empressimperia, for without you this story would have neither threatening antagonists nor a place to rob in the first place XD_

 _Well what can I say? It took me one month to finish the old Heist-and exactly two to finish this one (which is twice as large and ten times as fun). Nice bit of continuity there I guess XD_

 _Now my roster is as follows:_

 _Hercules and Fret get an update once (or twice depending on circumstances/inspiration) a month, coz they're not as interconnected as my other fics are. I'm now going to put most of my effort into my twin tournaments. After I'm finished with that I think I'm going to go in chronological(ish) order. So Assassination Games is next, running concurrently with Suna's Orphanage. Then it's Scroll of Destiny alongside Boot Camp and then Ashtar, Ashes and Aspiration alongside The Five. Then I can (finally) start A Land's Struggle which will run concurrently with both the sequel to Back in the Day: The Tournament and Imperial._

 _I also plan on writing Hun Grii Ninjas! Soon. It's essentially a parody of anime where everyone has a unique food power (before you ask I don't smoke anything XD)._

 _Finaly I wanna write about Master Wuxi in the Third Dynasty because I am absolutely certain that noone else has done that (plus making the Wuxi Finger Hold-the guy must be a badass. I also plan on blaming him for the Duplication Technique and Undying Will...)_

 _So yeah lots of things to look forwards to. At my current writing speed I'd say all of this will take around five years? Oh well I just hope my readers can stay with me for that much longer XD_

 _For now be satisfied with this story's ending._


End file.
